Does it actually accomplish anything? Or just bragging rights for the amount youve collected?

You use them to unlock dragon shouts.

Hmm havent spent too much time trying to figure that stuff out. How do I use em to unlock dragon shouts?

... wow

ok. so you find shouts on word walls in dungeons and high on mountains around skyrim... if you have your sound turned up you might even hear chanting to attract you to the wall... stand close to the glowing word and you'll "learn" the shout

kill dragons and if you stay there for a second you absorb their soul

in your magic menu there's a "shouts" option... hover over one and select "unlock" from your options, which are different depending on which console you're on or if you're on a PC... when you unlock a shout it becomes a highlighted word that you can add to your favorites and use.

*sigh* I know... I know... rule number one is don't feed the trolls... and still... could be legit.