Hello fellow citizens of the internet! Kira here. Welcome to today’s edition of web_crawlr.
Today’s top stories are about: a woman who had a creepy experience with a CVS photo kiosk, an exclusive story about Jake Paul’s secret political donation, a TikToker who shared her horrible Hinge date, and all the best ‘Orange Peel Theory’ memes.
After that, dig into Mikael’s ‘One Dumb Conspiracy’ column.
Until next time,
— K.D.
⚡ Today’s top stories
📱 WTF
Woman says CVS worker got her number from photo kiosk, wouldn’t stop texting her
It was “super creepy and made me never want to use the CVS kiosks ever again!” she explained on TikTok.
💰 POLITICS
EXCLUSIVE: Jake Paul donated $3,300 to RFK Jr.’s 2024 run—while hyping ‘Vivek for President’
It’s the influencer’s first donation, according to the FEC.
🚙 VIRAL
‘Your car was tryinnnn to tell you’: Woman shares nightmare Hinge date with therapist
One woman’s horror story about a Hinge date prompted her to issue a PSA about using the website to find suitable matches.
🍊 MEMES
‘I’m at your girl’s house, peeling her oranges’: The best ‘Orange Peel Theory’ memes
“my roman empire is orange peel theory,” wrote one X user.
We crawl the web so you don’t have to. Sign up to receive web_crawlr, a daily newsletter from the Daily Dot, in your inbox each day.
🔍 One Dumb Conspiracy
By Mikael Thalen
Staff Reporter
Why conspiracy theorists are freaking out about ‘Disease X’
In each edition of web_crawlr we have exclusive original content every day. On Mondays our Tech Reporter Mikael Thalen debunks the most wild conspiracy theories swirling around the web in his “One Dumb Conspiracy” column. 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.
🚘 Parking tickets are the bane of most people’s lives, but what about when a parking ticket is unfair? That was the case for one TikToker who claimed he was the victim of a “fraudulent” parking ticket in a now-viral TikTok.
🦷 In a viral TikTok video, a woman claims she was the victim of dental insurance fraud—perpetrated by her own dentist.
💳 A woman says customers are getting so sick of stores constantly pushing their credit cards on them that they prefer to shop online than deal with the awkward in-store sales pitch.
🍗 Shrinkflation seems to have hit beloved chicken tender spot Raising Cane’s and people are unhappy about it. If you’re not familiar with Cane’s, they sell one thing, and they do it well—big chicken tenders with sides.
🌮 In a recent TikTok video, which has rapidly gained over 1.6 million views, one user gives viewers an exclusive sneak peek at a new Taco Bell item not yet available in stores.
💵 Tipping culture (a.k.a. lack of livable wage culture) has gotten so out of control that even a grocery store (you read that right) is now asking for tips at check out.
🚗 There are unreasonable customers in the drive-thru, and then there is the unreasonable customer who decided to stay in the drive-thru for 20 minutes to eat breakfast.
💻 From the Daily Dot archive: Can we ever get back the excitement of logging on?
📝 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.
HAVE YOU EVER BEEN DITCHED IN THE MIDDLE OF A DATE?
To answer questions like this in the future, sign up for web_crawlr here.
👋 Before you go
People had mixed feelings about a man who ate the leftovers from the table next to him at a seemingly fancy restaurant.
Judging by the decor, view, and wooden sushi boat in Era’s (@___eraaa) TikTok, it seems the sushi spot she went to with her boo was pretty pricey.
That may be why her boyfriend didn’t want to let any food go to waste—even if it belonged to his neighboring diner.
In the viral video, Era shows a lone piece of sushi stranded on the next-door diner’s huge sushi boat. Her boyfriend quickly leans over, grabs it, and plops it in his mouth, thinking that the roll was left behind after the other sushi-goers left.
🎶 Now Playing: “Keep Ya Mask On” by Ray Luv 🎶