@adamada while your response are at length, they are also very contradicting. If the matter is not of importance, then why adamant to downvote and do so, so persistently.
Whilst mentioning freedom of speech, then why try and silence someone from posting what they wish to say or share. You mention "if you reblog and make her posts visible, I'll see them still if I follow you on my feed".. Why should my post be rebloged by anyone other than me for it to be visible. After all, it's my content, I should be visible without being muted.
Further to your statement, "When madam's reputation was affected by the downvotes, what was affected? the digits or her actual reputation as a person?". This @adamada is like saying, when crypto currency crashed what was affected? The digits or your actual fiat? If the person is not invested, it doesn't make any difference to them nor do they understand and say carefree statements such as,"I don't know how serious this matter is at your end but these things shouldn't be taken seriously." As you are not affected in the matter you don't think much of it. Trusting someone and following blindly their upvote and downvote trend without a mind of their own, which affects the essence of the content creators efforts and who truly put in their time while those of you who don't put in the effort to create content as you mentioned due to not having time, but have the time to see what the others are downvoting, select the same post, agree on their disagreed post which you yourself haven't read to make your own true choices and downvote it as a circle ring. Sounds like alot of time in hand to me and could be put to use in truly reading the content, especially when it was as sensitive as appreciating ones deceased Grandmother. Blindly 'trusting' the downvoter because you don't have time isn't showcasing correct choices nor displaying true ethical choices.
On the other hand you mention, "If it bothers her mental health, maybe stepping out from Hive, which embraces the toxic parts of decentralization along with its good is not the best place to promote her stuff". A very unwelcoming approach by hive and through group downvoting circle rings the group are trying to do just that. Push users away, discourage and mute them, and blame it on not being able to handle it and its toxicity. Why should I or anyone go to a point of "stepping away from hive". It's a platform for everyone and if anything needs to 'step away' it is this discouragement and very toxic behaviour. The hive community needs to appreciate content of every kind, and allow the community to grow by bridging other tribes and giving them that decentralised freedom.
For your case, it doesn't as there's no monetary incentive to take out from your posts but for others that belong under the category of spam/plagiarized content and sometimes content I just don't like being rewarded, there's an incentive for me to chip off a few cents off it.
I wouldn't see your content unless I go actively look for it or someone handed it to me by reblogging on their feed. Whether you have a high rep or negative rep, it's visible.
I don't represent anyone, just my take. If Hive is just causing me headaches, I see no point in engaging with it. You can have a group of people downvoting but there are individual reasons, don't lump mine with anyone else.
That's your opinion on how I use my stake AND my time. Assuming I blindly trust the downvoter is another flaw here, Galenk messages me or I check what's with the drama whenever my name gets mentioned/tagged or dm'ed. It goes the same for people I set to follow their downvotes. If I don't agree with the call, I just remove the downvote and move on or remove them from my trail. I Indulge in a conversation like this when there's a discussion or avoid it when someone already says what's on my mind.
I don't know, did my time and also other people stepped out of the platform some time whenever Hive's toxicity or crypto space toxicity disrupted their fun. If this is the kind of thing people want to be in, so be it.