Ernest just posted some comments clarifying recent changes to Votes, Boosts, Favorites, and Reputation Points:

• Upvotes & Downvotes function akin to Reddit
• Boosts count as two Upvotes (link)
• Favorites are added to https://kbin.social/fav if you Upvote (link)
• Reputation Points have been updated

In addition to that, Ernest stated that “there is no connection between reputation points and sorting algorithms. It’s just info in the profile” (link)