unions

Lemmy has an enormous down-vote problem, far worse even than Reddit somehow imho. Somehow the old chat forum way of "this response is relevant to the subject and adds to the conversation", as yours did, is mostly ignored in favor of "I enjoy seeing this, so I am going to click the LIKE button". (Implicitly, the hidden third option, of simply leaving it be, is likewise passed over, in favor of what I can only presume is due to lonely people desperately seeking to have some kind of interaction with the world.)

For me personally, I try go by the adage "don't be a jerk", but there are MANY people who apparently disagree with that:-D. One enormously crucial component of that is that the apparent anonymity of downvotes is an inherently unequal one - without being an administrator of an instance, I cannot easily find out who downvoted something, so they can make those kinds of hidden comments about me (or in this case you) that I can do nothing to block (short of moving to an instance that does not show downvotes of any kind whatsoever). This is why, whenever I do want to downvote someone, I always take the time to explain it in a comment, or upvote an existing explanation that does the same, so that the recipient is made aware of why people are saying that it is less relevant or should not exist. (major exception: unless it is an obvious troll - they already know, they simply don't care, and those I most often don't even bother to downvote, and rather simply block and move on with living my best life, free from that noise)

This downvoting issue has several problems, one being that different people like different things (e.g., gosh if you can believe it, even non-Linux operating systems, gasp!:-P), and how we NEED diversity of cultures (and ages, genders, walks of life, etc.), but yet downvoting creates echo chambers and discourages participation. I dare say that the top criticism of the Fediverse is the overall lack of content, and therefore the downvoting issue is the top reason why more people do not share content, and therefore our stupidity is the top reason why if it dies, this is what will be that killed it. i.e., if I am going to be spit upon, perhaps I will show up the place that did that less frequently? Other people can do whatever they choose... yet so too can I.

So my advice is: (1) read the cargo cult of the ennui engine, then (2) feel pity for all the people who can only accept precise clones of themselves and cannot enjoy or even simply leave alone someone else saying something that they do not 100% agree with, but feel compelled to respond, almost like it is themselves that they are arguing with inside their own heads rather than you.

TLDR: Karens are going to Karen, and until alternatives to Lemmy are developed (Sublinks and Piefed are both coming!!), there's nothing anyone seems willing do about it.