Yes, but I think implementing a requirement to post a reply (or at least upvote some other person's direct reply) before a downvote would be much simpler. The c

Yes, but I think implementing a requirement to post a reply (or at least upvote some other person's direct reply) before a downvote would be much simpler. The categories do not take away certain subjectivity of the up/down votes. It is easy to understand silent upvote as "I am in agreement and I think more people should read this". With silent downvote, the intent is clearly "less people should read this" but the reason as to why is not given. It also nicely solves the meta-moderation problem. If the reason for downvote is given, it can be validated whether the explanation is meaningful or not.