Tumblr trolls Elon Musk’s blue checkmark fiasco by selling two blue checkmarks for $7.99

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Tumblr is taking a dig at Elon Musk’s $8 a month blue verified checkmark subscription by selling its users two blue checkmarks for $7.99.

The social media platform introduced “Important Blue Internet Checkmarks” on its “staff” account Thursday. 

“They’re a steal at $7.99 — that’s cheaper than some other places, when you consider that you get not one but TWO checkmarks for your blog on web only (for now),” the post says, referencing a Twitter Blue subscription.

The post finished with, “Why, you ask? Why not? Nothing matters!” and a link to get the blue checkmarks.

Twitter’s paid subscription model has been met with criticism by some celebrities, major media organizations, and other users since he proposed the idea. However, for some, it’s their first time being able to see a checkmark by their account, as Twitter’s previous system for doling out verification required an application process that didn’t guarantee you would be verified.

Musk announced the changes as part of an overhaul to Twitter’s subscription service, Twitter Blue, which he’s seeking to boost in an attempt to make the company less reliant on advertising revenue.

Musk himself said charging users $8 a month for a blue checkmark might be “a dumb decision, but we’ll see,” in a Twitter Space with advertisers Wednesday.

He previously tweeted that he wanted to let Twitter users buy a blue checkmark because he doesn’t like Twitter’s “current lords and peasants system” for who has or doesn’t have one.

On the checkout page for Tumblr’s blue checkmarks, the company says users can have the “coveted status symbol,” “without having to be verified by Tumblr staff.”

The disclaimer attached to the $7.99 price for the two blue checkmarks says, “This is not a verification status; it’s an Important Blue Internet Checkmark, which in 2022 is just as legit. Also the Important Blue Internet Checkmark may turn into a bunch of crabs at any time” with a crab emoji. 

Tumblr did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment ahead of publication.

Since the rollout of Twitter’s paid-for blue checkmark model, fake accounts and trolls, who Musk said paid verification would help deal with, have bought blue checkmarks for their accounts impersonating people from  former president George W. Bush to O.J. Simpson. Musk has said people impersonating other accounts would be banned if their account wasn’t clearly marked as parody.

As of now, Blue checkmarks on Twitter are distinguished between subscribers to Twitter Blue and notable users who didn’t have to buy verification, though that could change in the future.

Twitter also recently rolled out — and then appeared to scale back — a second checkmark, a gray check with the word “Official,” that was designed to verify that an account belonged to a notable public figure.

However, shortly after the gray checkmarks rolled out, some individuals saw them disappear. Musk later said he had “killed” the feature, and later called it an “aesthetic nightmare” that recreated a two-class system on the app.