Yeah the authenticity thing especially gets a lot of people going online. I check in and catch up on r/cooking once or twice a week and there are some very strongly held opinions. The funny thing is, the one that gains traction in a post can be either side of the issue depending on the time of day that it's posted. Reddit's voting system carries so much momentum.
Things like a bagel "toasted" vs "just warmed," dishes that have a variety of regional variations (e.g. a lot of slavic dishes like borsch or stuffed cabbage rolls where I've gotten yelled at by people for pronouncing it the Russian way or making it the Slovak way instead of their own nationality's style) seem to bring up far more intensity than I'd have thought possible, but, you know, I learn more about my friends that way and we've remained friends...
in an internet comments section? Tough to maintain that kind of civility, I think. possible, but tough.