Newsletter: 🎮 😂 Video game roasts Elon Musk

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

Here’s the latest trending internet culture stories today: Elon Musk got roasted by a video game and it left social media in shambles, deluded Trump fans trying to spin the Signal leak, a former restaurant server revealing why you shouldn’t use salt and pepper shakers, and some online book discourse that is exploding online. 

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

P.S. — Did you take yesterday’s news quiz? If not, you still can! Just open yesterday’s newsletter to answer the question. If you guess correctly, you might win a “Cache Me Outside” shirt. 

See ya next week! 

— A.W. 

⚡ Today in Internet Culture

🎮 MOCKING
‘Double kill’: Assassin’s Creed ratioing Elon Musk on his own platform has social media in shambles

Nobody likes a sore loser, and in the video gaming world, streamers and players will gleefully roast you for the smallest infraction. Add allegations of cheating into the mix, and your reputation as a gamer is cooked—even if your name is Elon Musk.

➤READ MORE

💬 VIRAL POLITICS
‘Deliberate, intentional’: Deluded Trump fans swear admin wanted top-secret Yemen Signal chat to leak

Supporters of President Donald Trump are attempting to pass off the administration’s inadvertent leak of sensitive war plans as a purposeful and calculated maneuver.

➤READ MORE

🧂 THE MORE YOU KNOW
‘I literally witnessed this’: Former restaurant server reveals the real reason you should never use the salt and pepper shakers on the table

A woman is cautioning diners against using salt and pepper shakers while eating out at restaurants.

➤READ MORE

📚 DISCOURSE
Reader’s insistence it’s ‘weird’ not to imagine yourself as the main character in every book sparks heated debate

Chronically online readers got into a heated debate over whether it’s normal to view yourself as the protagonist of every book you read.

➤READ MORE

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By Kyle Calise
Video Producer

Meme History: The Tide Pods Challenge

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.

📱 A woman shared her delight after she discovered that she could record in cinematic mode using the front-facing camera of her iPhone.

☕ This Starbucks barista is saying some women are misinterpreting the messages left on their cups when their husbands pick up their coffee orders. It’s actually just a corporate policy.

🥩 Ever since meat alternatives hit the market—and stories of lab-grown meat entered the news cycle—there’s been a persistent conspiracy theory on social media. That theory? “Stores are selling fake meat.”

🌭 A Costco customer loyal to the $1.50 hot dog that’s been a longtime staple came upon a horrible revelation on a recent visit to her location.

🏳️‍🌈 From the Daily Dot archive: Long before #instagays, YouTube’s gay celebs blazed the trail for a generation of LGBTQ youth.

📺 Meanwhile, on YouTube…

Aaron Paul has extremely healthy Internet habits—unlike the rest of us. (Just click the video below to find out more.)