I think it has something to do with the adoption of the meme beyond channer culture. To anyone using the site, it's obvious that some random tripcode user holds no more credibility than an anonymous one.

But perhaps baseless, pseudo-anonymous allegations are given an extra flair of "mysteriousness" and "intrigue" to those who are unfamiliar with the site. The media plays into this: recall the "hackers on steroids" incident.