Hello fellow citizens of the internet! Andrew here. Welcome to today’s edition of web_crawlr.
Our top stories today are about: How the White House Christmas tree toppled over which led to an influx of memes, a customer offering practical tips to get better service and prices from your internet provider, a traveler catching Spirit Airlines leaving someone’s luggage behind, and why people think Chat GPT is getting dumber and lazier.
After that, our Senior Politics and Technology Editor David has a “Deplatformed” column for you.
See you tomorrow!
— A.W.
⚡ Today’s top stories
🎄 POLITICS
‘Perfect depiction of Joe Biden’: White House Christmas tree topples over, sparking comparisons
The National Christmas tree at the White House fell over after being hit by high winds, leading to an influx of memes and commentary across social media.
🌐 HACKS
Customer says internet companies are scamming you. Here’s how to get your money’s worth
A TikToker called out internet companies for scamming customers and offered three practical tips for getting better service and prices.
🧳 FAIL
‘This is why I travel carry-on only’: Travelers catch Spirit Airlines leaving someone’s luggage behind
While waiting to board a flight of her own, one traveler noticed one lone suitcase that seemed to have been forgotten by airline workers.
💬 TECH
‘Dawg it won’t listen’: ChatGPT is getting dumber, lazier, users bemoan
According to some posters on X, ChatGPT is getting dumber, and the reason might be that the chatbot has learned how to be lazy and incompetent, as it increasingly fails to complete tedious tasks and prompts the users to do them themselves.
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🚉 Deplatformed
By David Covucci
Senior Politics and Technology Editor
Deplatformed: Pepes want Conor McGregor and MAGA goes MIGA
Deplatformed is a weekly column that looks into the nether reaches of the internet—outside the big few that everyone already covers—to tell you the political discourse online. It runs on Thursdays 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.
🥔 People on the Internet are thanking one man for sharing how to easily peel potatoes this holiday season.
🧥 A former Chick-Fil-A employee reveals that she was made to take orders outside without a jacket in the wintertime and without any breaks in the summer.
💵 Do you know what “tip-jacking” is?
📅 It’s Thursday, so why not take a look at the many different types of Thursday memes.
💼 A TikTok video of a man getting fired from his job just three weeks before he was supposed to receive his bonus has gone viral, sparking outrage and sympathy on the video-sharing platform.
🍿 The battle between Netflix and Hulu is on. This side-by-side comparison will help you decide who’s winning the streaming wars.*
🧾 This Best Buy worker went viral for showing just how long a receipt from the store can get.
🌮 A TikTok creator who frequently uses his platform to post cooking videos posted a viral video saying that eating at Mexican restaurants can be more budget-friendly than cooking at home.
📺 From the Daily Dot archive: Here’s why Netflix action movies always suck.
*The Daily Dot may receive a commission in connection with purchases of products or services featured here.
📝 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.
ARE YOU HAPPY WITH YOUR INTERNET PROVIDER?
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👋 Before you go
A woman says that she found out that her boyfriend’s apartment was an Airbnb he rented when they spent time together, and that he was actually living with his ex the entire time.
In a TikTok, Staci (@staci.leeann) says that she found out her boyfriend’s “apartment” was actually an Airbnb he rented on the nights she stayed over—and that he lived with his ex throughout their whole relationship. She added in a comment that the ordeal had occurred two years ago.
The video had over 1.5 million views.
Many commenters were blown away by the boyfriend’s “elaborate scheme.”
