I think your post may have been down-zapped potentially just to obscure the actual target of the downzapping. You can see a pattern happening, especially if you look months ago, into what was downzapped.

Older posts that were downzapped, there was usually a very obvious quality reason - ai content, copy paste posts. And the amounts were much smaller. 

Now the pattern is completely different. Except for posts that I believe are decoy downzaps.

Signal312

Downzapping may have started as a way to filter low-quality content.

But in practice, it can also let people suppress thoughtful posts they disagree with without ever engaging the argument.

Instead of “bad content gets filtered,” it can become:

If someone thinks the post is low quality, say why.

Downzapping on Stacker News - let's talk about pros and cons

That’s my concern.

Downzapping may have started as a way to filter low-quality content.

But in practice, it can also let people suppress thoughtful posts they disagree with without ever engaging the argument.

That changes the incentive.

Instead of “bad content gets filtered,” it can become:

“uncomfortable content gets buried.”

If someone thinks the post is low quality, say why.

That would make the signal stronger.