A few weeks ago Steem changed to include a dedicated pool of downvoting power.
The downvote pool doesn't work like the main voting power. When using the main voting power pool a 100% upvote at full strength is worth 2% more than one right after (when at 98% VP).
The downvote power can be used much more freely without penalty. The effect of downvotes are the same whether you spare them by down-voting regularly every days or use them all at once every 5 days. (~13 full downvotes)
You can check the status of you voting power pools at https://steemd.com/@YOUR_USERNAME
Here is a test I ran that might help some of you visualize what I'm talking about.
Start at 23%
After 3 downvotes
Same decrease in Down-Voting power (DVP)
Same amount of negative rshares (effect)
There is a negligible difference between the rshares count of about 0.02% (0.0002) might be related to changes in Steem's global variables.
Important detail, Since HardFork 21 (HF21) there is a indirect relationship between total votes on a post (rshares) and rewards.
This difference between vote and reward is more pronounced when a post is around $4.00. So downvoting a post that is worth more than that will remove significantly more reward than a post already worth less.
Looking for something to downvote?
Check out the comments below for suggestions and enjoy the drama!