Nice post. It's always good when people explain these kind of internal Steem mechanisms that new users know nothing about.

However, there are more ways than that to get your reputation lowered. I've been there myself. All you need to do to be attacked and flagged is to go against the opinion of a few rich users (you'll see their posts Trending everyday.) Disagree with them, and most likely, they'll flag you... just because they don't like to be contradicted. It's sad but true.

That's why I stopped using the Trending Tab altogether. If I want to be bullied, I'll go back to kindergarten.

PS: @sherbanu suggested your post in the Pay It Forward Contest. This is how I've found you.