The internet is chaotic—but we’ll break it down for you in one daily email. Sign up for the Daily Dot’s web_crawlr newsletter here to get the best (and worst) of the internet straight into your inbox.
Hello fellow web crawlers! Andrew here. Welcome to today’s edition of web_crawlr.
Our top stories today are about: Attendees at a Republican fundraiser in Texas were filmed beating up a mannequin of President Biden with a bat, a woman claiming a company used AI to steal her likeness to create a deepfake ad, an Amazon driver filming a moment when an unknown woman randomly hopped into his van, and how Taylor Swift fans at South by Southwest (SXSW) gathered in person to swap theories about her new album.
After that, our Assistant Editor Kira has a “Decoding Fandom” column for you.
See you tomorrow!
— A.W.
⚡ Today’s top stories
🧍♂️ POLITICS
‘Horrific and shameful’: Kansas GOP fundraiser attendees filmed beating up Biden mannequin with baseball bat
The Johnson County Republican party in Kansas is drawing backlash after a fundraiser involved attendees beating up an effigy of President Joe Biden.
🤖 WTF
‘We’re living a Black Mirror episode’: Woman says company used AI to steal her likeness to create a deepfake ad
The rise of AI’s ability to create convincing deepfake videos may have just inadvertently helped human beings become more human again. An example of a TikToker who had her likeness allegedly stolen by AI may contain proof of that.
📦 VIRAL
Amazon driver finds random woman in his van. He’s shocked by what she asks
An Amazon delivery driver in Atlanta has gone viral after filming an incident involving an unknown woman who randomly decided to hop into his van while he was away from the vehicle.
🎙️ CULTURE
‘It’s going to be an alternative rock album’: Swifties just gathered in-person to decode ‘Tortured Poets Department’
A sizable group of fans gathered at SXSW to do everything from swap stories about their times seeing Taylor Swift to offering some theories about her new album and, crucially, what it could possibly be about.
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.
⭐ Decoding Fandom
By Kira Deshler
Assistant Newsletter Editor
French soap opera ‘Ici tout commence’ finds global queer fandom
In each edition of web_crawlr we have exclusive original content every day. On Wednesdays our Assistant Newsletter Editor Kira Deshler dives deep into the world of fan culture in her “Decoding Fandom” 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.
🚘 This Mercedes-Benz dealership worker went viral after sharing some harrowing advice about identity theft.
🛒 Viewers are divided after watching a woman grocery shop for the week at Dollar Tree. “Dollar Tree steak is crazy,” a top comment read.
💼 Some people take the meaning of “remote” work to its absolute limits. Although the average employer would probably prefer if their employees were working from a desk or somewhere more stable, users on TikTok have admitted to clocking in from all sorts of wild destinations—often without their boss knowing.
🍔 The quality of a hamburger patty may soon see a U.S. school system in court after a parent’s concerns about food quality in their school system were allegedly brushed off as a simple preference.
☎️ One shopper took it upon himself to answer a ringing Walmart store phone and assist customers calling about online order issues and inventory questions. The reason? No workers were around to answer the phone.
🍽️ A couple shared a hack to save money when out at restaurants, but TikTok viewers were left divided over whether it was an ethical hack.
🍸 This server says he refilled bottles of Patron, Don Julio, Hennessy, and Grey Goose to trick customers.
⚰️ From the Daily Dot archive: Is your kid attending funerals on Roblox?
📝 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 HAD A NIGHTMARE EXPIERENCE WHILE FLYING?
To answer questions like this in the future, sign up for web_crawlr here.
👋 Before you go
The Internet can be terrifying sometimes—but other times, it can be a magical place.
Case in point, the recent viral reemergence of these A+ ads that ran back in 2003 when Chilean TV first aired the original Star Wars films on cable.
According to several reports, these channels didn’t want to have to cut away for an ad break, but also still had to have the ads in there—so, their solution was to simply put the ads in the movies themselves.
Specifically, ads for Cerveza Cristal beer.
This resulted in Luke receiving his father’s beer supply instead of a lightsaber. Oh, and Palpatine using the force to summon—you guessed it—a beer.
🎶 Now Playing: “Masque d’or” by Fishbach 🎶