Hello fellow citizens of the internet! Andrew here. Welcome to today’s edition of web_crawlr.
Our top stories today are about: A shocking video where a woman finds out that she had a live spider in her ear, a company that laid off people on a Zoom call but didn’t mute the workers’ mics, how Elon Musk railed against shadow bans but is using them on his critics, and a look at the many memes of Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson.
After that, our Politics and Tech Editor David has a “Deplatformed” column for you.
See you tomorrow!
— A.W.
🕷️ WTF
‘This is my worst fear’: Woman finds out she had a live spider in her ear
Everyone’s worst nightmare came true for one woman, when doctors discovered that she had a live spider inside of her ear.
💼 VIRAL
‘This is absolutely disgusting’: Employer lets go of entire team in mass layoff via Zoom. They didn’t mute workers’ mics
The company Solera is under fire after performing a mass layoff via a Zoom call. The problem? They didn’t mute employee microphones.
💻 TECH
Elon Musk railed against shadow bans—now he’s using them on his critics
Musk is a self-appointed free speech crusader. Sometimes.
🎬 MEMES
The many memes of Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson
Between his larger-than-life personality and even larger physique, the Rock keeps breaking the internet with a series of surefire memes.
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🚉 Deplatformed
By David Covucci
Senior Politics and Technology Editor
Deplatformed: The Church of Gab
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.
🏡 An Airbnb host said he was getting “f*cked” by the company and called them out for ghosting him and making him lose out on the income of a nearly two-week stay.
🧊 This… is a pretty bizarre request to get from your landlord.
🍞 A user on TikTok has sparked discussion after sharing images of moldy bread. She claims that she purchased the bread from Costco—and the fact that it went moldy after just a few days is actually a good thing.
🚗 This woman’s “horror” experience with Alamo Rent a Car is getting a ton of attention online.
🧺 Recently, many stores have decided to lock certain items behind glass or plastic in order to prevent people from shoplifting the item. But people are shocked to see laundry items behind locked shelves.
☕ A woman went viral for urging her followers to use their unused Starbucks gift cards soon to prevent the company from reaching record profits.
🍴 Master the art of cooking for one with these kitchen hacks for single living.*
🛍️ This retail worker went viral for calling out customers who ask her for help right when she’s about to go on break.
👶 From the Daily Dot archive: The many lives of the Dancing Baby,cyberspace’s first cringe meme.
*The Daily Dot may receive a commission in connection with purchases of products or services featured here.
📝 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 BREAKFAST AT MCDONALDS?
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👋 Before you go
A user on TikTok has sparked discussion after claiming that a CVS pharmacist contacted her using the store’s information after she did not offer him her phone number.
In a video with over 94,000 views, TikTok user Brooke (@capricornb1mbo) writes, “Thinking about that time the CVS PHARMACIST asked for my number and because i didnt give it to him he got it from their SYSTEM and texted me.”
She then shows the text message exchange in question, where the man claims he “met [her] at CVS.”
