What are votes

Can some pls tell me

Are you referring to Upvote and Downvote in the Discussion area of a Khan Academy course?

When someone is viewing the Questions area under a video (or article) of a KA course, if the 'Sort by' is set to 'Top Voted', then the 1st Question shown will be the one with the most net votes for either itself or one of its Answers, the 2nd Question shown will have the 2nd-most net votes for either itself or one of its Answers, and so on.

No matter how the 'Sort by' is set, the 1st Answer shown below a Question will be the one with the most net votes, the 2nd Answer will be the one with the 2nd-most net votes, and so on.

The Tips & Thanks area under a video is similar: if the 'Sort by' is set to 'Top Voted', then the 1st post shown will be the one with the most net votes, the 2nd post shown will have the 2nd-most net votes, and so on.

I would guess that the goal is for people to vote for the Questions, Answers, and Tips that are most useful, so other users will benefit from them.  (That is not how it often works, though -- many posts get lots of votes for being funny or expressing common frustration.)

Does this answer your question?

~ Janice, KA user since 2014