What would be cool is if we had something people in a position to do so could be alerted if someone is being down voted to $0. Look at it and see if it was spam, or plagiarism. If it wasn't then counter the action enough to give them at least a small amount per up vote they received that you trust.
That'd be pretty nifty positive response. I don't know how practical or possible that would be. Just brainstorming.
Mentions still work for me, that may change during the next Hive bull run, though.
I'll try to remember that if I see anyone Zeroed.