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The Daily Dot

Charlotte is a regular Daily Dot contributor with bylines in Insider, VICE, Glamour, The Independent, and more. She holds a Masters&#8217;s degree in Magazine Journalism from City, University of London.

Charlotte Colombo

Tech

“Repulsive and immoral”: Backlash grows after Meta obtains patent for AI bots to take over a dead user’s account

Lindsey is a Seattle area writer interested in all things society, including internet culture, politics, and mental health. Outside of the Daily Dot, her work can be found in publications such as The Mary Sue, Truthout, and YES! Magazine.

Lindsey Weedston

Left: Tweet reading, "James Van Der Beek’s final message to the world is one of the most powerful things I have ever heard. Stop whatever you are doing and listen to this!" Right: Late actor James Van Der Beek wearing a hat and looking into the camera.

Entertainment

James Van Der Beek’s final message about dying is wrecking people in the best way

Anna is a freelance writer with far too much time on her hands. When she&#8217;s not writing about memes and internet slang, she can be found running TTRPGs online.

Anna Good

High angle shot of unrecognizable hands on black wooden coffin with white roses on top, pastor holding holy book. Text overlay from Reddit reads, "It's hell world. I didn't consider this as a possible use of AI and I'm disgusted."

Culture

Mourner can’t believe best friend’s family sobbed at funeral home’s “handwritten” song—because it was AI-generated slop

3 panel: Left: Geoguessr star Rainbolt with a DM from a girl asking for his help. Middle: Rainbolt with photograph of bowling ball in the desert.

“Doing god’s work”: Geoguessr star Rainbolt helps family track down 40-year-old memorial to honor dying grandmother’s wish

Braden Bjella is a culture writer. His work can be found in Mixmag, Electronic Beats, Schon! magazine, and more.

Braden Bjella

“I think it’s poetic”: The internet is freaking out over an eco-friendly mushroom casket burial

Left: Jessica McLaughlin Right: 7-Eleven sign

7-Eleven worker passes away after her manager allegedly sat on her until she stopped breathing

“If you’re watching this, I am dead”: Influencer Tanner Martin breaks news of his own death in moving goodbye video

YouTuber Mikayla Raines cuddles up with two fox cubs and a baby bobcat. Her husband shares a heartbreaking message.

Mikayla Raines, a YouTuber who saved hundreds of animals, passes away at 29

Eilish O’Sullivan was the Daily Dot&#8217;s associate managing editor. Her work has appeared in Mashed, the Austin Chronicle, and the Daily Texan.

Eilish O’Sullivan

“Without realising, they said their final goodbyes”: Couple makes video from airport, right before getting on doomed Air India plane

“We can’t let her be just another case”: Book influencer’s death leads to calls for tougher femicide laws

Rebekah is a freelance reporter for the Daily Dot.

Rebekah Harding

2 panel image, tiktok logo on phone and Valeria Marques

“Femicide is a huge problem”: The Valeria Marquez incident happened while she was livestreaming from her beauty salon

A person taps on a darkened TikTok screen with a red glow around them.

High schooler passes away after friends’ TikTok prank goes awry

2-year-old TikTok star Preston Ordone, aka ‘Okay Baby,’ passes away. His family speaks out

2 panel image: on the left is rushing freeway traffic and on the right is a cow. In the middle is a reddit thread with the prompt: What's something most people don't realise will kill you in seconds?

‘Using a massage gun on your neck’: 25 everyday dangers that could kill you instantly

Nina Hernandez is a writer, journalist, music critic, and culture commentator based in Austin, Texas.

Nina Hernandez

Walmart Employee testing out Oven; Walmart Sign

‘I look forward to seeing the results of the investigation’: Walmart worker walks into oven to make a shocking revelation about how they really function

Death