Back then DA wand other sites were full of Sonic game purists, and Sonic X was fairly new, so any character that wasn't the games or from SX were hated, and anyone who drew them would get lots of comments like, "I hate Sally!"
This was also when the controversial "slap" in the comics happened, so Sally-hate was at an all time high. (Until writer Ian Flynn came in the comics, and redeemed her.)
Somehow CCN helped popularize the character Sally on DA, and the hatred of her died down.