#im worried people will willingly misunderstand this post but i also think that like

[expeditionersjoklumarkar]

ok i wanted to write out my thoughts cause its something thats been making me insane but like i think a lot of the reactions to the tumblr verified thing on both sides are like. really overblown and just kind of idk bad? to explain like i think that the post circulating that has screenshots of who has the checkmark where a lot of people in the tags and replies are using it to justify harassment is really uncalled for. I know someone who like has one just because its funny and like $8 or whatever and they have so many people sending them death threats and like calling them selfish/entitled/etc despite the fact that like they're not coming from a place of a lot of money, it was just something they got for themselves as a treat. obviously this doesnt apply to like people who spent hundreds for like fake internet clout but i think that dogpiling and justifying harassment en masse to anyone with the checkmark is like a really dangerous precedent to set. the argument ive mostly seen is if they spent money on the site they arent donating and therefore are bad people and should donate just feels like youre making up a guy to get mad at and using it to justify mass harassment. On the other hand I do think that its good to be critical of supporting a site that has history of racism and bad moderation decisions. I think that it's good to be skeptical of giving money to people who've made bad decisions in the past and that while it would be nice to be able to support tumblr and make sure it stays running etc, this should also be considered in tangent with how their current staff are treating racism, transphobia, etc. The problem is we should be able to be critical of this without using this as moral high ground to harass people who are potentially also coming from a place of low income. I think these ideas need to co-exist and be dialed down like 50%. Tumblr isn't going to die outright if you dont send it $100 and people arent willingly killing people because they got 1 checkmark.

Its really easy to also get emotionally invested in this discussion because a lot of us are suffering at the hands of capitalism and seeing someone able to spend money on something is sparking like the idea of "well that should have gone to me/someone who needs it" which is ykno something that appeals very heavily to emotion.

tldr i think that like harassing people and making huge vitriolic posts abt people with tumblr verified is preformative and reads like "there are starving children in africa" rather than like genuine criticism. it feels reactionary and overblown and is being used to justify harassment. thats just my 2cents tho