Hello fellow web crawlers! Andrew here. Welcome to today’s edition of web_crawlr.
Our top stories today are about: A wild anti-Biden conspiracy theory that claims the president is actually actor Jim Carrey, how Google searches for “my eyes hurt” spiked during the eclipse earlier this week, Elon Musk’s X platform being accused of approving an ad calling for instituting the death penalty for gay people, and a look at the memes that sprung up in the wake of the trailer for the second Joker movie coming out.
After that, our Politics and Technology Editor David has a “Deplatformed” column for you.
See you tomorrow! We’ve got something fun planned, so stay tuned. 👀
— A.W.
⚡ Today’s top stories
🎭 CONSPIRACY
The old theory Joe Biden is secretly Jim Carrey is finding new life on TikTok
A wild anti-Biden conspiracy just resurfaced: that the U.S. president is none other than actor Jim Carrey.
👁️ YIKES
‘My retinas are toast’: Do your eyes hurt after the eclipse? It’s not just you
Google Trends search data for “my eyes hurt” peaked during the eclipse.
💻 TECH
Elon Musk’s X accused of approving ad calling to reinstate death penalty for gay people
An advertisement that argues in favor of instituting the death penalty for homosexuality appears to be running on the social media platform X.
🎬 POP CULTURE
The first trailer for the ‘Joker’ sequel is here, and Lady Gaga fans already have all the memes
The highly anticipated sequel to 2019’s Joker, Joker: Folie à Deux, just received its first trailer, and fans are beyond excited.
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🚉 Deplatformed
By David Covucci
Politics & Technology Editor
Deplatformed: Patriots in control … of A24
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 Walmart customer recently pulled out her phone and hit record when she noticed something peculiar on the self-checkout screen. As she scanned her groceries, she noticed an item mysteriously appeared in her cart. The problem? She claims she hadn’t scanned anything resembling it.
🚘 In an engaging video, an expert shares the 5 most unreliable cars ever made.
📦 Moving is a stressful, and expensive, experience. One person’s experience went viral when she was told by her moving company that her move would cost $10,000.
💵 What if there were a way to appear generous without actually leaving a tip? One coffee shop customer has taken to TikTok to share his unique strategy.
📜 A licensed insurance representative recently took to social media to enlighten consumers about lesser-known aspects of their insurance policies.
🐟 This McDonald’s worker shared why you sometimes get a half slice of cheese on your Filet-O-Fish vs. a full slice of cheese.
🚓 From the Daily Dot archive: A background check company is secretly paying cops on TikTok to push its services.
📝 Question of the Day
HAVE YOU WATCHED THE TRAILER FOR THE ‘JOKER’ SEQUEL?
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👋 Before you go
A hotel guest is warning others against leaving their toothbrushes out at hotels after he says he caught workers using his to clean.
TikTok user Lavell Jackson (@buyandsellwithlavell) is a realtor who says he was in Las Vegas for a convention and stayed at the Mandalay Bay Las Vegas Hotel. “So whatever you do, if you’re staying at Mandalay Bay—or from now on, any hotel—I will no longer be leaving my toothbrush out,” Jackson says.
Viewers might wonder why Jackson is taking this stand. Well, he says he has a good reason. “I didn’t think it was real, but evidently it is. I’m here for the ReMax R4 convention, and they used my toothbrush to clean,” he says.
“And they’re being nasty to me about it. And they want to offer me a $50 credit and a new toothbrush. I can’t make this up. I’m at a loss for words. Some companies just have to do better.”
