I assumed I’d be downvoted into oblivion and/or banned.

Damn, it sounds like you’ve been hanging out with the wrong crowd on Lemmy lol. Downvotes are silly and we have them turned off here but other instances can still downvote you. Doesn’t look like there’s been too many so far though. No reports or anything either. I think things here are generally taken lightly unless you’re intentionally being a dick.