Hello fellow web crawlers! Andrew here. Welcome to today’s edition of web_crawlr.
Our top stories today are about: How an absolute rando politician who beat President Biden in a primary is captivating the internet, a viral video warning people why you should watch what you do in your seats at movie theaters, people sharing a fix for a new X feature that automatically reveals personal info by default, and how the Oompa Loompa from the infamous Willy Wonka experience now has a Cameo.
After that, we’ve got a “Deplatformed” column from our Senior Politics and Technology Editor David.
See ya tomorrow!
— A.W.
⚡ Today’s top stories
🗳️ POLITICS
Absolute rando bests Joe Biden in American Samoa, captivates internet
When the winner of the Democratic primary in American Samoa was announced Tuesday, it wasn’t President Joe Biden.
📹 WTF
‘The couples at the back’: Customer shows new movie theater cameras—and reveals why you should watch what you do in your seat
Salty popcorn, soda, Skittles and… surveillance? These four words may not be exactly what you’d group together when thinking about a movie theater.
📱 TECH
‘Dox by default’: Musk’s new calling feature for X automatically reveals personal info
Users shared a quick fix.
🍬 VIRAL
The iconic Oompa Loompa from the Glasgow ‘Willy Wonka experience’ is now on Cameo
Since the disastrous event went viral, the Oompa Loompa (Kirsty Paterson) has spoken out about their side of everything, and is now on Cameo.
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🚉 Deplatformed
By David Covucci
Politics & Technology Editor
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Deplatformed: Men can’t handle Caitlin Clark
Deplatformed is a weekly column that looks into the nether reaches of the internet—outside the big few that everyone already covers—to tell you the political discourse online. It runs on Thursdays in the Daily Dot’s web_crawlr newsletter. If you want to get this column a day before we publish it, subscribe to web_crawlr, where you’ll get the daily scoop of internet culture delivered straight to your inbox.
🕸️ Crawling the web
Here is what else is happening across the ‘net.
🏠 A tenant posted a video saying her apartment is now charging to replace damaged items instead of doing repairs for free. People online are telling her that it’s illegal.
🚗 When shopping for a car, getting a good price on your desired vehicle involves a lot more psychological maneuvering than you might expect.
🥤 Viewers of this viral video are divided after a McDonald’s customer blasted a drive-thru worker over a straw.
🚰 A server posted a viral video after reportedly interviewing at a nice restaurant. She’s shocked when she finds out that the water costs $33.
🍋 In a situation that feels more like a Saturday Night Live skit than real life, one TikToker recently shared a grocery delivery mishap in a video that quickly racked up 22,000 views. It involved lemons.
🧳 An airline losing your baggage is any traveler’s nightmare.
🍴 A TikToker has sparked debate after accusing a restaurant server of “robbing” her. But is everything as it seems?
💸 From the Daily Dot archive: How a cryptocurrency fortune crippled a deceased billionaire’s estate.
📝 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 DONE A JOB INTERVIEW ON ZOOM?
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👋 Before you go
A shopper went viral when she highlighted how a grocery store’s “Buy 2 Get 2 Free” deal on Diet Coke allows the company to raise prices on the individual stock.
TikToker Melissa Simonson (@realmelissasimo) filmed the short clip in an effort to draw attention to deals that force consumers to purchase more. Viewed over 2.1 million times, the clip sparked a debate about the price of groceries.
Simonson’s video began after she noticed that Diet Coke 12-packs were marked at $9.99 per case. “Nobody is actually going to spend this, right?” she said. “$9.99 for a single 12-pack. I thought this is what their goal is; they want people to pay that much. This is how far we’ve fallen. $10 for 12 stinking sodas, right?”
Though $10 per 12-pack seemed outrageous by itself, Simonson believed the signage was a ploy to lure customers into spending more than they planned on luxury goods like brand-name sodas.
