TNG would've got the same treatment if the internet was around. People decided they were never going to like this show unless it had Picard or Kirk or any of the originals in it, they have very little else in their life and spend all day posting on the internet, downvoting on IMDB, posting on message boards about how much they hate it even if they don't watch it. People like this are the most vocal, I remember the same thing with Galactica, there were a handful of people who were so passionate in their hatred and spent all their time downvoting across various websites or posting about "GINO" Galactica In Name Only.
It is sad.
TNG did receive the same treatment. The documentary, Chaos on the bridge goes into detail the type of hate that TNG received.