Mercurius
Legend
One of the great things about D&D is that there is no "right" way to play it. Over the decades, like most here I have played a range of different campaigns, both as player and DM, and found something to enjoy in almost every one. And of course aging has also brought greater certainty about taste preferences, but I also still enjoy being exposed to different and new flavors.
That said, because there are so many flavors of D&D, we all tend to gravite to some more than others, and some we might even find "off-putting."
But to address your question, I personally wouldn't stop liking D&D based upon a social media stream or anyone else's style of play because of the inherent quality of D&D being what you make of it, but I also get where @Haffrung is coming in that CR represents one of the biggest "public faces" of D&D; if you don't identify with that particular expression of the game, or find it off-putting to whatever degree, then there is an association involved, and some degree of turn-off makes sense.
As a somewhat related example, I have sometimes felt the need to qualify my interest in science fiction and fantasy, because of what people often associate with such things. This is not because I'm ashamed of my interests, but because I'm rather finicky about what SFF I like - and there's a lot of SFF out there that I consider not at all to my tastes, not to mention of poor quality (which I'm not saying CR is).
Similarly, if I told someone that I played D&D and they said, "Oh, you mean like that show Critical Role?" I might clarify by saying, "Yeah, but there are a lot of different styles of play."
I mean, in a way D&D is like a genre, and not everyone is going to like every expression of that genre. I like a lot of hip-hop, but there's also a lot that isn't for me, even off-putting, and if someone asked if I liked hip-hop, I might feel the need to clarify what I like and don't like. Or I like sports and follow a couple rather closely, but am not at all into "fandom" - I don't own any jerseys or paraphernalia, I don't attend many games, etc.
While I have been into D&D for most of my life and love SFF and imagination in general, I also don't at all resonate with most of "geek culture." I pick and choose my SFF, I am into D&D but wouldn't consider myself truly "hardcore" in that while I enjoy playing, I could also live without it and scratch the most important aspects of that itch in other ways; that is, my very favorite aspects of D&D aren't the sole purview of D&D (like imaginative stories and world-building).
My point being, folks such of myself that aren't "dedicated geeks" or identify with geek culture might not like being associated with geek culture--not because there is anything wrong with geek culture, but because it just isn't who they are (or I am).
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