Hello fellow web crawlers! Andrew here. Welcome to todayâs edition of web_crawlr.Â
Our top stories today are about: Trump being forced to sit and listen to a number of potential jurorsâ anti-Trump memes, a traveler recalling a nightmare experience while flying Frontier Airlines, a study that shows how big techâs political ad libraries are lacking critical data, and footage of actor Austin Butler training for Dune 2 going viral.Â
After that, the trending team shares with you their pick for âMain Character of the Week.âÂ
You know the drill at this point: Itâs Friday, so itâs time for our weekly news quiz. Scroll down to answer the question, and if you guess correctly you might win our brand new âTake Me Out To The Blog Gameâ shirt.Â
See you tomorrow!Â
â A.W.Â
⥠Todayâs top stories
âď¸ POLITICS
âAmazing ego destructionâ: Trump forced to sit through review of prospective jurors anti-Trump memes
Trump wasnât happy with some of the posts.
â¤READ MORE
𧳠VIRAL
âThat would drive me crazyâ: Customer says Frontier Airlines forced people off plane, kept their luggage
In a viral video, a customer says Frontier Airlines forced nearly a dozen people off of a plane but didnât tell them their luggage would continue on the journey.
â¤READ MORE
đť TECH
As 2024 election approaches, new study finds Meta, X, and Googleâs political ad libraries lack critical data
In the age of social media, political ads can influence elections. And while sites have worked since 2016 to be transparent about the spending on their platforms, a new study finds that effort lacking.
â¤READ MORE
đĽ POP CULTURE
Footage of Austin Butler training for his âDune 2â fight scenes is going viral
Dune 2 has been experiencing monumental levels of success ever since the highly anticipated sequel hit theaters last month, and one of the stand-out performances was from one former Elvis, Austin Butler.
â¤READ MORE
We crawl the web so you donât have to. Sign up to receive web_crawlr, a daily newsletter from the Daily Dot, in your inbox each day.
âď¸ Take our weekly news quiz!Â
Are you the most online reader of web_crawlr? Prove it by answering our question of the week! The answer can be found somewhere in one of our newsletters from this week.Â
If you answer correctly, youâll be entered to win a web_crawlr shirt, and weâll shout out five people who won the shirt!Â
IN A RECENT VIRAL VIDEO, A CUSTOMER CLAIMED HE WAS âPOISONEDâ BY A FAST FOOD CHAIN. WHICH CHAIN RESTAURANT WAS IT?Â
To enter to win a shirt, sign up for web_crawlr here.
đ° From the dept of things that should cost more
đ° SPONSORED
Get 10% off your first order at TEMU
From gadgets to designer clothing, furniture to musical instruments, TEMU has pretty much everything, and they sell it for less than pretty much anywhere else. This week only, web_crawlr readers can get 10% off their first order via this link.
đ Main Character of the Week
By Ramon Ramirez
Managing Editor
Main Character of the Week: Woman whose car was disabled by a dealership at a Planet Fitness
Main Character of the Week is a weekly column that tells you the most prominent âmain characterâ online (good or bad). It runs on Fridays in the Daily Dotâs web_crawlr newsletter. If you want to get this column a day before we publish it, subscribe to web_crawlr, where youâll get the daily scoop of internet culture delivered straight to your inbox.
đ¸ď¸ Crawling the web
Here is what else is happening across the ânet.
đ In a viral video, this mechanic revealed the âdumbestâ thing you can do as a car owner.Â
âď¸ One TikToker documented his travel âhackâ in a viral video thatâs garnered over 188,000 views. While many found his dedication to the joke amusing, others said they, too, tried this and couldnât recommend it in good conscience.
đ Some updates to self-checkout guidelines at department store retailer Walmart have customers upset at the prospect of using a subscription service to provide access to the checkout mechanism.
đ´ One customer went viral for sharing why âcheapâ options to eat donât really exist anymore.Â
đł âWould you like to sign up for our store credit card?â The overarching question that hangs over every shopperâs head when they go to check out at their local Marshalls, Victoriaâs Secret, Ulta, Target, TJ Maxx⌠the list goes on and on and on.Â
𼤠People online have a lot of opinions about Dunkinâs new âSparkedâ seltzer drink.Â
đą Even though smartphones now play a large role in the lives of most Americans, the devices still arenât fully understood by many who use them.
đď¸ From the Daily Dot archive: #TikTokMadeMeBuyIt: Why TikTok shopping is now the ordinary.
đ Before you go
Bad news if youâve got an eye shadow addiction and a fickle heart. According to a former Sephora manager, you could get banned from making returns at the beauty store chain if you do it too often.
California-based beauty creator Jennie Pham (@greeneggsandglam) recently shared her knowledge about the policy on TikTok. She made her video in response to another creatorâs post about the policy. Pham explained that she was a manager at a Sephora store until last March.
The video has 1 million views and almost 70,000 likes.
âYes, you can be banned from making returns at Sephora,â Pham said in the video.
The creator explained that itâs not about the ratio of returns to purchases.
âWhat matters is the dollar amount of what youâre returning,â she said.