Hello fellow citizens of the internet! Andrew here. Welcome to today’s edition of web_crawlr.
Our top stories today are about: A woman going viral for sharing how she was “almost kidnapped” at a Tinder date’s house, how the first version of Disney’s Mickey Mouse lost its copyright protection and sparked a flurry of memes to flood the internet, a hack that has gone viral for showing you how to transfer Visa gift card funds to your bank account, and a look into the history of the Kermit the Frog drinking tea meme.
After that, our Senior Reporter Audra has a “That One Sound” column for you.
See you tomorrow!
— A.W.
⚡ Today’s top stories
😱 WTF
‘There were a lot of red flags and I ignored them’: Woman says she was ‘almost kidnapped’ at Tinder date’s house
A woman on TikTok shared a terrifying story of how she narrowly escaped a potential kidnapping after ignoring several red flags and opting to go to a secluded house of a stranger she met on Tinder.
🐭 VIRAL
Memes of Disney’s original version of Mickey Mouse committing atrocities flood web after copyright expires
The first version of Disney’s Mickey Mouse, which appeared in the 1928 animated short Steamboat Willie, lost its copyright protection. Memes featuring the character immediately began flooding the internet as clocks struck midnight across the U.S.
💳 HACKS
‘This is the most genius thing I’ve ever heard’: Woman shares hack for how to transfer your Visa gift card to your bank account
At the end of the holiday season, some folks may find themselves with an abundance of gift cards, not quite sure what to do with them. So it’s not surprising a video explaining how to put the funds into a checking account has gone viral.
☕ MEMES
How a tea commercial starring Kermit the Frog became the perfect reaction meme
Which movie received only moderate ratings on IMDb, Rotten Tomatoes, and Metacritic but gave rise to two of the most iconic memes in history?
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🎵 That One Sound
By Audra Schroeder
Senior Reporter
Cordelia’s ‘Little Life’ draws out the sweet—and sour—on TikTok
In each edition of web_crawlr we have exclusive original content every day. “That One Sound” is a weekly column from senior internet culture writer Audra Schroeder that explores the origin of popular sounds heard on TikTok. It runs on Wednesdays. If you want to read columns like this before everyone else, subscribe to web_crawlr to get your daily scoop of internet culture delivered straight to your inbox.
🕸️ Crawling the web
Here is what else is happening across the ‘net.
📦 An Amazon delivery driver went viral after breaking down what he actually makes in a paycheck—and what’s missing from it.
🎁 A man showcased the dangers of participating in a Secret Santa exchange, revealing the odd assortment of items he got after thoughtfully putting together his own package under the $50 limit.
🚢 This video—where a woman details how she got hired to work on a cruise ship—is getting a ton of attention online.
🚘 In a viral TikTok, a Lyft driver called out the company for taking more than half of the earnings from one of her recent rides.
🗣️ In the latest installment of Woman versus Chick-fil-A, the woman revealed the aftermath of confronting the manager of her neighborhood location about blasting music at night.
🥪 Internet users have long complained that the Panera Bread of today is not the same restaurant as the one they remember from a few years ago.
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📝 Question of the Day
Everyone’s got opinions, and we want to know yours. Just click a button below to answer the question, and tomorrow we will let you know how fellow web crawlers like you answered.
DID YOU GET A GIFT CARD OVER THE HOLIDAYS THIS YEAR?
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👋 Before you go
A McDonald’s manager was giving Grinch vibes after she shut down a worker who tried to add a bit of extra holiday cheer in the to-go bags of customers who ordered chicken nuggets.
Most people know the delightful feeling of opening up your chicken nugget container and finding one or even two extra nuggets in there. Perhaps they were placed there intentionally, or maybe the person counted wrong; either way, you’re glad when it happens.
This McDonald’s worker tried to do that intentionally for customers who came in during his shift around the holidays.
In the video, Everett (@everett_cunningham_1) says that he’ll be adding extra nuggets to customers’ orders until his manager catches on.
🎶 Now Playing: “Learn How” by Mission of Burma 🎶