Why do so many mock aikido?

I don't mean on here. I mean in general. The interweb is full of claims and 'proof' that aikido is a waste of time.

I've only been training in it for a few months. I come from a background of karate and similar so I'm not by any means qualified to pretend to know what I'm on about. But the very limited amount of training I have had has convinced me that if practiced properly, and if one explorers the principles rather than limiting ones self to the text book techniques, I can see how it can be extremely efficient as a defensive combat system.

So I don't get why there are so many folks out there that would ridicule it.

The aikido club I attend sells itself as freestyle, and the chief instructor is an ex soldier so I'm wondering if my confusion arises from the possibility that the aikido I've seen is not the same as pure traditional aikido.