@kissane I can relate to this somewhat as a similar event happened when AOL opened it's gateway to the internet. At that point only savvy users who knew the “rules” mostly had access. There were written and unwritten ways to act in email and message “boards” etc. The unwashed horde of AOL users swamped the net overnight.. and we never recovered.
Many of those new users received lots of crap from the “establishment” and were made to feel unwelcomed as well.