Newsletter: 😱 First date’s ‘horrifying’ surprise

Internet culture 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. You’ll 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 to kick off the weekend are about: A first date nightmare story that is truly bonkers, why desperate job seekers are flooding forums with despair, debunking false claims that DOGE unearthed $40 million in secret payments to Obama, and an expert listing the 10 most stolen vehicles in 2024. 

After that, we’ve got another edition of “Meme History.” 

One last thing: Did you take our weekly news quiz yesterday? If you didn’t, you should! Just open yesterday’s email and answer the question. If you guess correctly, you might win a “Scrolling In The Deep” shirt. 

See ya next week! 

— A.W. 

⚡ Today in Internet Culture

😱 WTF
‘I was in shock’: Woman goes on first date with man she’s been Instagram friends with for a while. Then he puts a book on the table

The date started off well, until he brought out a book with hundreds of photos of the two of them. Except… she had never taken a single picture with him.

➤READ MORE

💼 EVERYTHING IS TOTALLY FINE
‘600 rejections in 6 months’: Desperate job seekers are flooding forums with stories of despair. What’s going on?

Job seekers in 2025 are expressing even more despair over the search than in previous years, to the point that lives may be at stake.

➤READ MORE

💰 DEBUNK
No, DOGE didn’t unearth $40 million in secret payments to Obama

Conservatives across the internet are parroting the false claim that Elon Musk’s DOGE halted former president Barack Obama from pocketing “royalties” from Obamacare.

➤READ MORE

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.

By Kyle Calise
Video Producer

Meme History: Cash Me Ousside

Meme History is a weekly column that dives deep into internet lore to uncover the history of famous memes. It runs on Saturdays 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.

👱‍♀️ This Chick-fil-A worker was disgusted to realize why men are creepier toward her when she wears this one hairstyle.

🍟 McDiva is what people are calling this McDonald’s employee after she stood up to a rude customer. So how exactly did she get this title?

🚘 A man is outraged after he went in for an oil change, and the mechanic called out “whoever did this last.” The problem is they did it last time.

👗 Rising prices and questionable quality at thrift stores have left regulars wondering if secondhand shopping is still as affordable—or worth it—as it used to be.

🧼 Another Dawn Powerwash customer is going viral for stating that they believe many are using the product incorrectly.

🎥 From the Daily Dot archive: Here’s why you can’t take a screenshot of a TV show or movie on your computer.