Glad you also liked the freedom of speech the most. I do think this is the least advertised and most fundamental thing to understand after decentralized. It's interesting to hear people complain about being censored here when censoring someone here is basically impossible. It's the most free speech on the Internet. I've seen so many topics on Steem that I really would never see on Facebook or Google just because they are afraid they will be sued.

That doesn't mean we cannot make an individual choice to downvote or mute. It's just never done at a system level.

Nobody ever punished me

I've actually never been punished either for something I've written (also just randomly punished by whales). I cover edgy topics from time to time and I won't back down from a controversial topic or expressing my opinion. I do follow basic etiquette like be careful about trolling and revenge voting, no cheating or spamming.

Occasionally, I use a footer, but to be honest I had those posts where people have 3+ footers and I need to scroll and scroll. Some haven't changed it for years and it's difficult to see the value it adds if any. Maybe a front end solution will happen sooner or later for people to promote things or show off their memberships without having to do that (I don't care really).

I think it's neat that you found your 'authentic' self. I'm not quite sure what that means, I think you are able to express yourself. In my case it took me some time to figure out what I actually like to write about. I've changed my style a bit too. However, I try never to compromise on quality or sincere feedback.
You mentioned rewards = appreciation. It's so true, and it's not just some social point, these rewards could mean serious money at some point.

I really wish I was on Steem in June 2016. It seems like crazy times back then. During that time I was on a social media break. It just wasn't interesting. I had finished a course that required me to do a professional blog and I was doing an Internet forum moderation for my employment. I wasn't too happy with that either. Glad I found a social media I like, here.

I find the people I engage with on Steem are constantly changing. I'm worried it's going to get too complicated before it becomes a ghost town or something.