The reason downvotes bring negative energy is because people don't understand the economic aspect behind them. We should see steem posts less as "People are giving me upvotes to give me money directly" and see it more like an auction system.
Some people think a post or comment should be worth more than what it currently is, and some people think it should be worth less.
And in this context it shouldn't even matter if there was abuse in play or not, what matters is to find a post payout value the community can agree on.

And, I think, if we could get the frontend and the community spirit wrapped around this thought of auctioning a post to find a fair value, people will react less toxic on it and will see it more as a gamification element.