First, I think it's incredibly ironic that you received downvotes on this post. I hope you were able to keep your shit together. :)

I like what you say about reacting. I remember looking twice upon receiving my first downvote, then just shrugged it off. Fuck it. I have better things to do.

I tell my children a lot (like.. a lot... because they are children, and repetition is good), "You cannot always choose what happens to you, but you can always choose how you react." My 17 year old gets it: don't be a dick. My 13 year old rolls his eyes at me, but, hey, he's 13.

There will be jerks out there in the world that do things just because of whatever reason they have. We need to shrug these people off, not give them notice, and move on with our lives.