Like the title says, if you want to upvote something on KBin, you should use the Boost link, not the upvote button (Why? Don’t know…)
The upvote button doesn’t seem to do much, but Boost accomplishes what Reddit’s upvote did. So if you’re looking to encourage a post, use the Boost link.
Not crazy about the design. An upvote should be an upvote. If the upvote is useless, why is it even there?
It’ll be changed soon™, so upvotes will boost reputation.
Read some of the other comments. It doesn’t sound like you’ve been following much of the chatter about the site very closely.