You make excellent points in your post, here. You are right about your posts holding their appeal. I came to Steemit because of a link to a post I saw of yours in a google search.
Never worry about negative comments. Nine times out of 10, a negative post is a reflection of the poster, not the person to whom it is directed. Posters who take time out of their day to direct their own negativity at you are just jealous of your success. Their energy would be better spent in creating something worthwhile of their own.
Instant affirmation simply isn't realistic. This site is global. Some of your most loyal fans are probably asleep. It kind of makes a nonsense of the upvote rules with respect to the value of timing.
With so many users currently, it takes a while to separate the wheat from the chaff to uncover the nuggets of wisdom that we really want to read.
Cheers and happy Steeming