Newsletter: 🎩 Melania’s inauguration hat sparks speculation

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Hello fellow web crawlers! Andrew here. Welcome to today’s edition of web_crawlr. 

Our top stories today are about: Why Melania Trump’s hat stole the internet’s attention during yesterday’s inauguration, Democrat leaders getting blasted online for getting “absolutely played” on the TikTok ban, fake claims spreading about Diddy’s house burning down in the L.A. fires, and why musicians have thoughts about an AI music CEO’s latest comments. 

After that, we’ve got a “One Good Thing” for you that should be helpful for anyone who is in the midst of the winter weather across the country. 

See you tomorrow! 

— A.W. 

⚡ Today in Internet Culture

🎩 VIRAL POLITICS
‘A barrier to Trump’s lips’: Speculation swirls that Melania’s inauguration hat was meant to keep husband away

First Lady Melania Trump is raising eyebrows online after showing up to her husband’s presidential inauguration in a noticeably large hat.

➤ READ MORE

⛔ TECH
‘Handing Trump a win’: Democrat leaders blasted for getting ‘absolutely played’ on TikTok ban

Democrats are fuming at the party’s leaders online.

➤ READ MORE

🔥 CONSPIRACY
Fake claims Diddy’s house burned down in L.A. fires keep blowing up

A conspiracy spreading online claims that Beyoncé burned down Sean “Diddy” Combs’ house in Los Angeles during the city’s recent wildfires.

➤ READ MORE

🎶 DISCOURSE
CEO of AI music platform claims ‘it’s not enjoyable to make music now’—and musicians have thoughts

A statement by Suno founder Mikey Shulman claiming that people don’t enjoy making music has musicians dropping diss tracks in droves.

➤ READ MORE

We cover the “best and worst” of internet culture, but sometimes the “best” can get lost in the shuffle. We’ll focus on stories that highlight the “best” in a semi-regular section called “One Good Thing.” 

‘I’ve been walking on ice wrong my entire life’: Man shares hack for how to walk on ice without slipping

There’s a lot to hate about the winter time: the salt that gets kicked up on the road, gray skies, the 700 or so people who die from hypothermia in America each year due to lacking proper shelter, or the thousands of auto accidents that occur due to icy roads.

Another very real and very inconvenient part of winter is simply walking outside of your home without slipping and getting injured. 

The CDC reports that around 1 million people are injured annually from slips and falls and that the rate of bodily harm from this specific scenario increases “significantly as temperatures decline.”

However, there is a way to make sure you can walk outside in even the iciest of conditions without falling, if a TikTok experiment is to be believed. 

At the risk of becoming part of someone’s social media schadenfreude compilation, the hack involves an item you probably are wearing on your feet right now.

A TikToker named Jojo (@imliterallymexican) uploaded a video where this “life hack,” as she calls it, was tested and the results were staggering.

HOW TO WALK ON ICE WITHOUT SLIPPING

🕸️ Crawling the Web

Here is what else is happening across the ‘net.

💍 Oura Ring, a wearable health tracker, can help you get to the bottom of your sleep, fitness, and stress. But one girlfriend warns that the device may tell you something you don’t want to hear in a now-viral video.

💰 While some shoppers may storm out empty-handed after a run-in with poor customer service, one TikToker says she decided to spend hundreds instead. But viewers suggest it wasn’t the flex she thought it was.

🛒 A Walmart worker wants customers to know it’s absolutely not their fault whenever shoppers don’t receive substitutions for items that are out of stock.

🍟 One allergist says that if you have this common food allergy, Chick-fil-A‘s new french fries may be off the menu for you due to a health phenomenon.

🍽️ When you’re hungry, nothing feels worse than pulling up to your favorite restaurant at prime dinner time only to discover that you’ll have to wait hours for a table. But one Texas Roadhouse regular says there’s a way around the wait at the popular steakhouse chain.

⚰️ 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. 

DO YOU THINK ITS POSSIBLE YOU COULD FALL FOR A SCAM? 

To answer questions like this in the future, sign up for web_crawlr here.

🤳 Today’s Viral Video

Fake Pakistan based media giants like Vogue, People, and Billboard are fooling Meta.

📚 Andrew’s Reading: “Golden Sun” by Pierce Brown 📚