Hello fellow web crawlers! Andrew here. Welcome to today’s edition of web_crawlr.
Our top stories today are about: A viral warning about a scam that could “take everything” from you, who Taylor Swift is endorsing in the 2024 election, people falling for a new conspiracy theory about the “Hawk Tuah” girl, and an explainer about the “Humans Saw This” meme.
After that, our Senior Politics and Technology Editor David has a “Deplatformed” column for you.
See you tomorrow! We’ve got something fun planned for you. 🎃
— A.W.
⚡ Today in Internet Culture
📦 SCAMS
‘They are gonna take everything’: Woman warns of new scam where you receive this present in the mail with a QR code
Some offers seem too good to be true. Especially when they come as a free gift with a QR code in the mail. There’s a new scam you need to look out for.
🐈 VIRAL POLITICS
Taylor Swift dropped her 2024 endorsement—with a not-so-subtle cat reference
The cat is out of the bag for the worst-kept secret of 2024. Taylor Swift will vote for Vice President Kamala Harris.
💦 CONSPIRACY
People are falling for an unfounded claim the ‘Hawk Tuah’ is a secret billionaire scion of Israel
There’s a new conspiracy theory involving Haliey Welch, the “hawk tuah” girl who rose to prominence after her street interview in which she encouraged viewers to “spit on that thang.”
🌳 MEMES
The ‘Humans Saw This’ meme, explained
The meme rose in popularity recently. So what exactly is it?
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By David Covucci
Politics & Technology Editor
Nate Silver’s mild Trump praise brings Bluesky meltdown
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.
✈️ Has airport security ever made you throw things away before boarding? How about eat something? According to this traveler, she had to eat their treats before boarding the plane. There’s only one problem: They were “special” treats.
🏠 This viral TikTok is a cautionary tale for landlords who want to deny a renter because of a disability.
🥩 A Walmart employee went viral after calling out the retail store for increasing the price of its meat.
💵 This Uber Eats driver says that a customer backed out of a tip after she completed the order and shared other signs of potentially stingy customers.
👕 A Target worker is asking parents who shop for kids clothes to stop abusing the retailer’s generous return policy.
⚰️ From the Daily Dot archive: Is your kid attending funerals on Roblox?
📝 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 THIS WEEK’S PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE BETWEEN TRUMP AND HARRIS?
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🤳 Today’s Viral Video
Concerns about Ludacris’ health grew last week after the rapper posted a video on Instagram of him drinking unfiltered water.
