The internet is chaotic—but we’ll break it down for you in one daily email. Sign up for the Daily Dot’s web_crawlr newsletter here to get the best (and worst) of the internet straight into your inbox.
Hello fellow web crawlers! Andrew here. Welcome to today’s edition of web_crawlr.
Our top stories today are about: A judge threatening Trump with jail time if he continues to violate his gag order, people getting bamboozled by AI-generated photos of celebrities at the Met Gala, a woman complaining that Verizon was secretly upcharging her, and a customer finding something unusual in a graduation cake she ordered.
After that, our Assistant Editor Kira has a “Decoding Fandom” column for you.
See you tomorrow!
— A.W.
⚡ Today in internet culture
🤫 SHHHHH
‘If I need to, I will’: Judge in hush money case says he’ll throw Trump in jail if he breaks gag order again
The judge overseeing former President Donald Trump’s hush money trial found him guilty of violating an order barring him from making public statements which call into question the integrity and legitimacy of the trial.
👗 AI NONSENSE
‘Society is in trouble’: People are getting bamboozled by these AI-generated photos of Katy Perry, Rihanna at the Met Gala
People are falling for these artificial intelligence (AI)-generated photos of Katy Perry, Rihanna, and more at the Met Gala.
☎️ TECH OVERLORDS
Woman says Verizon secretly started upcharging her on her monthly bill. Viewers say it’s common
While Verizon denied any wrongdoing in a recent settlement, the lawsuit sparked a discussion about the many fees and charges that the company levies upon its customers.
🎂 FAIL
‘You got the golden ticket!’: Smith’s customer discovers something shocking hidden in graduation cake
A Smith’s customer discovers something shocking hidden inside a graduation cake. Spoiler alert: It’s not edible.
We crawl the web so you don’t have to. Sign up to receive web_crawlr, a daily newsletter from the Daily Dot, in your inbox each day.
⭐ Decoding Fandom
By Kira Deshler
Assistant Newsletter Editor
Despite cancellation, ‘NCIS: Hawai’i’ fans still believe in representation
In each edition of web_crawlr we have exclusive original content every day. On Wednesdays our Assistant Newsletter Editor Kira Deshler dives deep into the world of fan culture in her “Decoding Fandom” 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 your inbox.
🕸️ Crawling the web
Here is what else is happening across the ‘net.
🏡 If you are apartment hunting, you shouldn’t use popular sites like Zillow. You should use these four sites instead, according to one expert.
🍗 Getting the wrong order can be frustrating at the best of times, but did this one Chick-fil-A take it too far?
🍹 One user uploaded a viral TikTok about a new practice Target is purportedly implementing: Carding anyone who buys a non-alcoholic “party”-themed beverage.
📮 A small-business owner claiming to have what he called a “very trustable source” within the United States Postal Service (USPS), says that layoffs and small-town post office closures are coming to the already beleaguered government agency.
🥪 Subway‘s new cover hiding the meats has sparked a lot of discussion online—most notably about how you can see your sandwich being prepared anymore.
🍜 Imagine being delighted to share what you thought was a helpful trick that may make a daily task a little easier, just to get dog-piled by a bunch of strangers. That’s what appears to have happened with one TikToker, who had a “cooking hack” that he uploaded to his account.
👥 From the Daily Dot archive: Here’s why online anonymity is a thing of the past.
📝 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.
DID YOU WATCH ANY OF THE MET GALA?
To answer questions like this in the future, sign up for web_crawlr here.
👋 Before you go
Dental scams are becoming a real concern, and one TikToker has decided to sound the alarm in a recent PSA video.
TikTok user Seema (@seemashah_) posted a video describing an unsettling encounter with a dental practice in Miami.
Seema said she and her husband recently acquired new dental insurance and set out to find a dentist in Miami. Their choice led them to a practice in Midtown, where she said they underwent a series of eyebrow-raising procedures. She stated, “They were doing like all these X-rays. They did a CT scan, which, my husband’s a radiologist, and he was like, ‘Why are they doing CT scans?’”
Seema claimed she observed the dental team performing various procedures and “dental tests” that were unfamiliar to her.
