I don't just mean outrage or regular rage, I mean shock that someone was to the left of "legal weed and free college but only for those that operate a successful business for 3 years in a disadvantaged community" 
takes.
I think federating took them by surprise, looking back. For about a week, those smug liberals were at a loss to even fathom what Hexbears were saying, and could only chant bullshit about how we're Russian/Chinese bots.
Sure they still do that but they've slightly adapted to Hexbear presence.
Being surprised by Hexbear's takes?
Well at one point, yes, I did feel genuine surprise that people existed that didn't like liberalism coming from the left, if that's what you mean. I learned about that in my 20s.
Most of the people on lemmy probably are in their 20s.
Migration from the corporate walled garden internet to the fediverse is going to be an eternal september of culture shock.