So why do you downvote?

We've had downvoting for, what, a couple of months now? How's that working out for you?
I have to say, I'm surprised at what my [i]own[/i] attitude about downvoting has become. When it first came out, I saw it as an opportunity to finally express my displeasure w/out getting wordy (although, I wasn't really in favour of the feature in the first place). But what's happened is, if I see an offensive post, that I feel is a sectarian attack against me, I don't downvote, no matter how bigoted it is. I feel like it will give legitimacy to the poster and he may use it to claim martyrdom. Indeed, another feature I looked forward to is others being able to downvote [i]me[/i] so I'd know how many SWeeps I reached who didn't agree w/me. Indeed, when I see someone has downvoted something I would heart, I do sense the poster's victimization.

So the kinds of posts I downvote usually come down to fakes and anything else that won't make the poster look like a victim.