The first part of that is more or less the slashdot system, which I think worked pretty well. However the recommended friends &#x2F; advocated devils seems like it would encourage groupthink &#x2F; witchhunts &#x2F; voting rings, etc.<p>Personally I think the best way to modify the current system would be to have up&#x2F;down votes only affect the comment&#x27;s position on the page and nothing else, no persistent or visible score for users or comments.