You posted in the right area.
One thing you might want to do is read stuff and comment for awhile, like Tax-chick suggests, until you get the hang of it all...We call personal essays "Vanities" and while they have their place, writing too many of them at a time is frowned on...
Especially if you're new. It's just one of those things. This site is mostly about commenting on news stories, not about originating our own discussion. (If you must, there is the "Bloggers and Personal" section.)
It's funny, but in comments, we're tolerant of a considerable range of opinion, but if you insist on posting vanities, you could be zotted even though you're actually a fine person.
Can I be honest without upset?