Hello fellow web crawlers! Andrew here. Welcome to today’s edition of web_crawlr.
Our top stories today are about: Why a dumpling machine has people captivated online, Trump’s attorney trying (and failing) to explain why he fell asleep in court, why Elon Musk has become a meme yet again, and actress Megan Fox finally commenting on the Love Is Blind drama caused by a comparison to her.
After that, our Senior Politics and Technology Editor David has a “Deplatformed” column for you.
See you tomorrow!
— A.W.
⚡ Today’s top stories
🥟 VIRAL
All of TikTok is demanding one question be answered: How to use a dumpling machine
A dumpling machine has gone viral, and it’s taking over the internet.
😴 POLITICS
Trump attorney Alina Habba tries, fails to explain claim former president slept in court
Trump’s team said the people who made the claim weren’t in court. They were.
🙋♂️ MEMES
Elon Musk’s red carpet poses get memed
Billionaire Elon Musk has yet again become an internet meme after attempting to pull off a handful of poses at a recent award show.
📺 POP CULTURE
Megan Fox has finally commented on all of the ‘Love is Blind’ drama caused by comparison to her
If 2024’s selection of reality TV has given us anything so far, it’s certainly viral levels of messiness—and the latest season of Netflix’s Love is Blind was no exception. Now, Megan Fox has entered the chat.
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🚉 Deplatformed
By David Covucci
Politics & Technology Editor
Deplatformed: Biden’s mask off moment
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.
🚗 Using ride-share services like Uber and Lyft has already become fraught with safety concerns for women. Now, one woman is warning passengers that Lyft automatically shows drivers when an address is labeled as ‘Home.’
🕶️ One man went viral after catching a kid reselling solar eclipse glasses for an extreme profit.
✈️ This American Airlines customer says a major change is coming to the airline very soon.
🍔 A vegetarian of 12 years accidentally broke her vegetarianism after an In-N-Out worker gave her a cheeseburger instead of the grilled cheese she ordered, she says.
💸 A TikToker’s joke video about car payments has sparked discussion about just how much some people are paying monthly for their vehicles.
🌐 From the Daily Dot archive: Is there a First Amendment right to assemble in the metaverse?
📝 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.
DO YOU THINK TIKTOK SHOULD BE BANNED?
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👋 Before you go
Here’s a harmless fast-food prank with a wholesome ending—we love to see it.
In a viral TikTok video, a man whose content can only be described as the perfect crossover between pranks and fast-food hacks took on the latest challenge from a commenter.
“Order a burger at McDonald’s then return it to In-N-Out telling them they made it wrong,” the commenter’s challenge read.
Anthony Villegas (@antstorm123) got to it with no hesitation.
“I’m about to have them so confused,” Villegas says in the clip.
