Hello fellow web crawlers! Andrew here. Welcome to today’s edition of web_crawlr.
Happy Friday! Our top stories today are about: A Walmart worker calling out a “creepy” toy that is being sold at the store, a ransomware gang claiming that it hacked a Planned Parenthood branch, an author saying that a BookTok influencer scammed him, and how the internet reacted to the viral “Hawk Tuah” girl launching a podcast.
After that, the trending team shares with you who was the “Main Character of the Week.”
Also: It’s Friday, which means it is time for our weekly news quiz! Just scroll down below to answer the question. If you guess correctly, you might win a web_crawlr shirt.
See you tomorrow!
— A.W.
⚡ Today in Internet Culture
🧸 ‘THREATY BEAR’
‘It comes to life’: Walmart worker calls out ‘creepy’ toy being sold at the store
A Walmart employee shared just how skeeved out she’s getting by a new toy being offered at the retailer. Officially, it’s called Thready Bear, but the Walmart worker, along with her viewers, are getting “Threaty Bear” vibes from it.
💻 HACKING
Ransomware gang hits Planned Parenthood—threatens data dump
A ransomware gang hacked a Planned Parenthood branch and is threatening to release files from the organization next week.
📚 BOOKTOK
‘I’m super pissed off’: Author says BookTok influencer scammed him out of $600. He’s not alone
An author is crying foul after he says a BookTok influencer “scammed” him out of $600 he paid her to promote his books. He says he never received the videos he was promised—and now the influencer’s account is defunct. What happened?
🎙️ POP CULTURE
Hawk Tuah Girl launches podcast on Jake Paul’s network: ‘Worst headline you’ll read today’
Hawk Tuah Girl has announced her next endeavor. Admittedly, the podcast has a pretty good name.
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IN A VIRAL VIDEO, A TENANT SAID SHE FOUND 80,000 OF WHAT KIND OF INSECT IN HER APARTMENT’S WALL?
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By Ramon Ramirez
Managing Editor
Main Character of the Week: AutoZone worker who told the internet he’s not a mechanic
Main Character of the Week is a weekly column that tells you the most prominent “main character” online (good or bad). It runs on Fridays 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 shopper is absolutely tired of being held up at self-checkout machines and suggests stores should implement restrictions on who can use them.
🍺 This Outback Steakhouse bartender went viral after sharing a short montage of her workday that reveals her earnings at the restaurant chain.
🚢 Across several platforms, Carnival Cruise customers have been sharing hacks for how to sneak alcohol onto the cruise ships. However, the cruise line is catching on.
🌮 In a viral video, a Taco Bell customer says a worker replaced her nachos with cinnamon twists without her consent.
🛋️ Costco has become famous on the internet for its generous return policy. So it shouldn’t be shocking that a woman returning a couch after using it for three years has got a lot of attention.
☕ A woman says she was blocked from buying an unhoused person a cup of coffee. The worker who blocked her cited store policy.
🛍️ From the Daily Dot archive: #TikTokMadeMeBuyIt: Why TikTok shopping is now the ordinary.
🤳 Today’s Viral Video
Shohei Ohtani’s dog, Decoy, did the first pitch at Dodgers Stadium!
