TWITTER & THE BLUE CHECK SAGA
The internet can be a true hellscape, but every so often we are treated to a collective trolling that is so fantastic, it makes pulls you back into its toxic grasp and think “God, I love the internet”.
If you missed it somehow, Elon Musk (Chief twit) made the decision to make the infamous Twitter blue check be more ‘accessible’ through a monthly subscription fee of $8 USD, dubbed Twitter Blue. Bills gotta be paid whānau! The blue check is “to indicate active, notable, and authentic accounts of public interest that Twitter had independently verified based on certain requirements,” according to the company’s website. So now this has been ‘revamped’ so anyone can get it, what could possibly go wrong!?
To the surprise of noone, the internet swiftly took hold of the golden opportunity and OMG, the trolling is truly beautiful. Stunning. Sbagliato, with processco in it, stunning.
Here are some of the faves we have come across:
Quick FYI, there is some naughty language and controversial takes in here, you’ve been warned.
Italian Elon Musk
A really good warm up into the sh*t show, a lot of people took to the mean streets of Twitter to impersonate Elon. Elon later decided to suspend any accounts that impersonated him (lol) and stated any accounts that were impersonating people needed to specify it was a parody. This is one is italian Elon Musk, watch the TikTok video here
RUDY GIULIANI
Not the big stinky doo doo, Rudy! A lot of polarising figures were targeted, taking the p*ss out of their scandals and controversial opinions. Honestly the copy writing is somewhat immature while being pretty crack up, ” stuck on my back like a turtle?” Love it.
Jesus
Geddit, Jesus! Just in time for his birthday. Love the additional breaking news tag and the supportive comments.
Eli Lilly
Notoriously known for hiking up the price of insulin, Eli Lilly stock prices have plummeted due to this tweet from a fake blue check account and sparked an important conversation about life saving health care access. We are here for the important conversation!
Dave Chapelle
The ‘comedian’? Who is notoriously transphobic, changed his tune. No more team terf!
Doja Cat
A Twitter legend, Doja Cat had previously changed her name to ‘Christmas’ and couldn’t change it back because of new platform updates. She tweeted at Elon saying she made a mistake and asked for his help. Of course, he jumped on it right away! And what did she do? Changed her name to Fart.
Marmite
Closer to home, Marmite jumped on real quick! We love seeing a bit of brand creativity on social media like this.
There are so many more, and while we hope it stays light-hearted with a few jabs at the controversial, there is always real risk to reputations due to the changes. Remember, online safety is key, protect your data and take breaks if you need to. It can be a dumpster fire out there y’all, protect your peace!
And what does Elon think? Well, he was happy. For now.
