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Hey everyone! Andrew here. I’m back! Welcome to today’s edition of Internet Insider. I hope you enjoyed having Tiffany and Ramon guiding you through the news over the last week.
Today’s top stories touch on viral labor, hacking, the country post-Roe, and the MCU. Plus, Tiffany breaks down the most pressing discourse online in her weekly “This Week On The Internet” column. Scroll on down below to also find out what her meme of the week pick is!
One last thing: Yesterday marked five years since Hillary Clinton told us all to “Pokémon Go to the polls.” So you can reminisce on that moment of viral history.
See you all tomorrow! It’s good to be back.
— A.W.
HACKING: Cybersecurity researchers say they have witnessed a “sustained effort” by nation-state hackers to compromise the accounts of journalists. The hacking groups either impersonated or targeted journalists in order to access information deemed valuable by foreign governments. Our Tech Reporter Mikael breaks it all down in his full report here.
VIRAL LABOR: Workers at a Starbucks in Seattle are criticizing the company’s move to close their store, saying the closure was “union busting” in a viral tweet. The company announced the store would be closed along with 15 others because of safety concerns, but some on Twitter noted that at least 3 of the 16 stores have voted or petitioned to unionize.
MCU: The finale of Ms. Marvel, the latest Disney+ show set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe includes a “game-changing update” to the character’s origin story in the comics that could “change the future” of the MCU, our Culture Reporter Gavia writes. You can check out her recap of the series finale here, but be careful because it includes spoilers.
POST-ROE: TikTokers who were prescribed acne-reducing medications that were asked to terminate any pregnancy while taking the pills are wondering how those medications will work in a post-Roe v. Wade country. Our IRL Reporter Tricia unpacks the viral discourse here.
Alt text is now being used in memes. Will it encourage people to use the feature?
It’s a simple directive that has become commonplace on Twitter: “Read the alt text.”
Twitter added the option to add alternative (alt) text on images several years ago, but the practice of users actually using the feature to accommodate people who rely on screen readers didn’t really start to take off until recently. Now, whenever you see an image on the app, you’ll know it includes alt text because there’s a small black box on the left-hand corner that reads “ALT” in all caps.
Everyone from brands to government agencies to meme accounts now use the “alt text” feature, and this week more people became aware of it after NASA used it to describe the dazzling images from the James Webb Space Telescope.
“The background of space is black. Thousands of galaxies appear all across the view,” read the beginning of the detailed alt text on one of the images.
Although NASA included alt text to vividly describe the celestial images, others are using the feature to add jokes and commentary to their images. “Harrison Ford in swimming trunks and sunglasses with a drink and looking like he was carved by the Gods,” reads the alt text on an image of the actor. The Sonic the Hedgehog account used the feature to describe Shadow’s summer and winter outfits: “On the left, Shadow the Hedgehog is wearing a t-shirt and shoes as his ‘Winter Clothes,’ and on the right, he is wearing the same t-shirt and shoes as his ‘Summer Clothes,’ but with the sleeves of the shirt cut off.”
This week, Twitter introduced an extra step designed to promote its alt text feature: an image description reminder. The reminder is an opt-in feature that is listed under accessibility in your profile settings. When you turn it on, Twitter reminders you to include alt text after uploading a photo to the app. It’s a simple but effective way to remember to include alt text.
Twitter users who pushed for alt text and other accessibility features rejoiced.
“I could not be happier, and this wouldn’t have happened without all of you proving that there was a demand,” the account @AltTxtReminder, a bot that gave people reminders to use alt text, tweeted on July 13.
Now that more people are using alt text on Twitter, though, there’s another discussion: How to stop people from putting unhelpful text in the images description box, like hashtags and links. Accessibility advocates recommend using plain text that accurately describes the images.
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👀 TODAY ONLINE
Here are some key dispatches from across the ‘net.
🍗 A video showing customers eagerly awaiting Costco rotisserie chickens recently went viral, sparking a debate.
🍺 If you are over 21 years old and still get ID’ed, it may not be because you look young. Instead, it’s because young people look old, according to one gas station worker’s viral video.
🍴 In a viral video, a TikToker revealed that she had her mother make lunch for her man and plated it as if she had done it herself.
▶️ Don’t get stuck with a bad streaming deal; not all packages are created equal. These are the best streaming bundles to take advantage of right now.*
🥛 Did Starbucks recently change the brand of oat milk it uses? One TikToker seems to think so, and people online are raging about it.
🚗 A right-hand drive vehicle owner filmed herself going through a drive-thru in reverse and getting reprimanded by the worker at the window.
🥝 Faced with harsh censorship, TikTok cannamoms fight against the stigma around weed and motherhood. If you want more stories like this, subscribe to the Passionfruit newsletter.
🦠 Did you get duped by the fake lore promoting The Blair Witch Project? Here are the viral marketing campaigns that helped shape the internet as we know it.
*The Daily Dot may receive a commission in connection with purchases of products or services featured here.
📅 MEME OF THE WEEK
The Webb Space Telescope photos were the subject of many memes this week, but this one—which shows the Distracted Boyfriend looking at the new deep field image of the universe while ignoring the old photo by Hubble—is one of my favorites.
Now Playing: 🎶“Even the Nights Are Better” by Air Supply🎶
