Hello fellow citizens of the internet! Andrew here. Welcome to today’s edition of web_crawlr.
Happy Friday! Our top stories today are about: A customer catching a restaurant catfishing them on Uber Eats, a look at the behind-the-scenes push civil rights groups are making to pass data privacy laws, an exclusive report about a teen saying an anti-trans article about their puberty blockers got facts wrong, and a viral DoorDash drink delivery fail.
After that, our Culture Editor Tiffany has her “This Week on the Internet” column and shares with you her pick for meme of the week.
P.S. — It’s time for our weekly news quiz! If you guess the answer correctly, you’ll be entered to win our brand new “Blogs In Bloom” shirt. Good luck!
— A.W.
⚡ Today’s top stories
🍴 SCAMS
‘These people are straight scamming’: Customer catches restaurant using photos that aren’t theirs to advertise menu items on Uber Eats
When one TikToker’s food arrived, it was a pale imitation of the photos online. This makes sense because, as the user reveals in a viral video, the photos used by the restaurant are simply taken from various sites on the internet.
🔒 TECH
Inside the behind-the-scenes push civil rights groups are making on Capitol Hill to pass data privacy laws
They’re keeping the American Data Privacy and Protection Act alive.
🗣️ CALLED OUT
EXCLUSIVE: ‘This is my story, not hers’: Teen says anti-trans article about their puberty blockers got facts wrong
A nonbinary teen tweeted to explain their side of the story after a conservative outlet published an article about them based mostly on their mother’s hesitation and eventual opposition to gender-affirming care.
☕ FAIL
DoorDash customer says she was only given partial refund after coffee leaked since there was still some left in cup
A Cincinnati-area TikToker showed a DoorDash drink delivery that was an absolute fail, leaving commenters weighing in with other DoorDash fails they claim to have experienced.
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A customer of which chain restaurant claimed in a viral video that they found a nose ring in her burrito?
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🗣️ This Week on the Internet
The early 2000s were not that ‘chill’—despite nostalgic videos
In each edition of web_crawlr we have exclusive original content every day. On Fridays our Senior Culture Editor Tiffany Kelly recaps the most pressing online discourse of the week in her “This Week On The Internet” column. If you want to read columns like this before everyone else, subscribe to web_crawlr to get your daily scoop of internet culture delivered straight to you inbox.
🕸️ Crawling the web
Here is what else is happening across the ‘net.
🆔 Two women headed to Las Vegas say they were refused alcohol at the airport because the only ID they had on them was a vertical one.
📷 A photographer recently shared one of the downsides of shooting weddings: getting forgotten when it’s time for everyone to eat.
💸 A user on TikTok is questioning whether their waiter was trying to “finesse” them after noticing a discrepancy between two receipts.
🍦 There’s a long-running observation about how the soft serve machines at fast-food restaurants are always broken.
🎯 This Target worker shared that they only got a 9-cent raise, sparking a ton of comments urging him to leave their job in search of a higher-paying position.
📺 Not a fan of Amazon Fire TV Stick? You’ve got options. These are the best alternatives for every situation.*
📦 In a viral video, a woman talks about the struggle she had with returning a company MacBook and monitor after she quit her job including: having a tight deadline to send them back, but the box not fitting the monitor.
💻 From the Daily Dot archive: Can we ever get back the excitement of logging on?
🥪 A student at Duke University is spotlighting just how savvy some college students have to be when it comes to accessing food, while also paying steep tuition among other expenses.
*The Daily Dot may receive a commission in connection with purchases of products or services featured here.
📅 Meme of the Week
Were there any memes this week that weren’t related to the upcoming Barbie film? Probably, but they got pushed aside for all the great pop culture mashups, especially those involving other fictional Barbies and Kens.
🎶 Now Playing: “Everyday” by Weyes Blood 🎶
