That's a theory, but in practice it's often just a very thin veil for complaining about being downvoted.

Complaining about being downvoted earns a near-automatic downvote from me. It's the exact opposite of contributing something useful.

I hate it when I get downvoted, but I suck it up. Sometimes I knew it was coming, and sometimes it's only temporary and the comment ends up with a good score.

But regardless of how or why, I take it and move on.