Newsletter: The 2024 election’s first internet star
Hello fellow citizens of the internet! Andrew here. Welcome to today's edition of web_crawlr.
Our top stories today are about: A server recalling a customer trying to propose with an engagement ring in a burrito (and how it backfired), who became the 2024 election's first big internet star, how a post about actress Judy Garland in blackface has stirred up an intense online discourse, and a look at why a conspiracy theory about Antarctica being real continues to persist.
After that, our Senior Reporter Tricia has a "Problematic on TikTok" column for you.
See you tomorrow!
— A.W.
⚡ Today's top stories
💍 VIRAL
Server says customer proposed with engagement ring in burrito. It backfired
A former server went viral after recalling a customer who proposed via an engagement ring hidden in a burrito. The maneuver backfired.
🗳️ POLITICS
Dick Bigger is the 2024 election’s first internet star
The farmer is apparently an Illinois institution, and asks lots of politicians to sign a baseball for him at the state fair. The jokes pretty much wrote themselves.
🎬 CULTURE
Why Judy Garland in blackface is suddenly trending
An X (formerly known as Twitter) post about a blackface performance by Judy Garland in 1938’s Everybody Sing has stirred up an intense online discourse about the actress.
🧊 CONSPIRACY
Is Antarctica real? Why the ice wall conspiracy theory persists
A now-deleted Instagram post gave ammunition to Flat Earthers and doubters, positing Antarctica wasn’t a real continent, but an ice wall like in Game of Thrones.
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😬 Problematic on TikTok
By Tricia Crimmins
Senior Reporter
Boy moms have taken an empowering trend and used it to disparage women
In each edition of web_crawlr we have exclusive original content every day. On Tuesdays our IRL Reporter Tricia Crimmins breaks down the trends on the popular app that will make you cringe in her “Problematic on TikTok” 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 you inbox.
🕸️ Crawling the web
Here is what else is happening across the 'net.
🍗 In a viral video, a woman shares that she has “chicken anxiety” and particularly struggles with larger hunks of chicken. Viewers of the video said they could relate.
☕ Eight sips. That’s what a local coffee shop customer claimed she got when she went through the drive-thru and ordered an iced coffee drink that turned out to be mostly ice.
🏠 A TikToker is going viral for questioning the ethics of landlords periodically raising rents without verifying that tenants can still afford it.
🍼 With these clever baby gadgets, a few seconds of shut-eye won't drown you in anxiety.*
🥩 In a viral video, a Walmart customer shared their confusion at seeing steaks in the meat aisle literally locked up.
🍿 Thanks to Barbenheimer, movie theaters are busier than they’ve been in years. Yet there’s shockingly little hype for the next superhero blockbuster, Blue Beetle.
🍔 Remember that old Wendy’s commercial, where the little old lady asks, “Where’s the beef?” This TikTok video is kind of like that.
💼 A worker wondered if she was the “pity hire” after being assigned to clean a parking lot that didn’t especially appear to need cleaning.
🏳️🌈 From the Daily Dot archive: How a Sims 2 fan forum became an unwitting safe space for queer creatives.
*The Daily Dot may receive a commission in connection with purchases of products or services featured here.
👋 Before you go
Staying at hotels can bring welcome and unwelcome surprises. For example, a hotel might go above and beyond, offering trendy decor and a nice breakfast while creating an overall pleasant environment. However, there are also hotels that fail at providing even the barest of necessities—for example, hotels that don’t have a bed or doors for their bathrooms.
No matter what happens, staying at a hotel will always bring something new and, occasionally, confounding, as TikTok user Kevin Harrish (@kevinharrish) can verify.
In a recent TikTok video with over 237,000 views, Harrish shows a hotel room in which every one of the guest’s personal items is set on a towel.
🎶 Now Playing: "Lovegod" by Sarah Kinsley 🎶
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