I also had a terrible first experience posting on Reddit, which turned me off from activity submitting any content and only commenting rarely. I mostly lurked and voted, which I still thought of as participating in the community. But in my short time here (Kbin for me), I see the entire userbase as activity welcoming and generally nicer! Just looking at the voting scores, it seems that downvots are hardly used at all! Maybe it's a good thing we're separating from the common audience that was quick to turn toxic and become combative for the fun of it.
Users Have Had It With Reddit...But Are Powerless (www.youtube.com)
A video about the effectiveness of the Reddit protest