Thank you for your post. You've described problems that I suspected would develop. Here are other concerns that I have...

Steemit has a whale-reward system where whales tend to influence content. Steemit is just one step from being yet another government monitored social media site where honest opinion risks future moderation. Steemit is growing through rabid supporters that will viciously attack anything that seems outside of the cult following. Stemit rewards the re-posting of content and ideas with nicer presentation or better timing; original works can get buried by a mountain of copycats.

It sounds like the hostility you experienced is a symptom of these concerns, particularly the "buried by copycats" problem. People feeling the pain of these problems are directing their anger poorly. Steemit has systemic flaws that will hopefully be resolved over time if this is to be a place that rewards original content more than cult following.