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Featured Writers

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Sarah Stierch

I'm a journalist, opinionist, photographer and polymath based in northern California.I am currently on leave from my journalism work as I explore where I see my future in the world …

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Michelle Brandabur

Hi! My name is Michelle Brandabur and I am a recent graduate of the journalism program at Boston University.

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Grace Stanley

My work has been seen by millions on the Daily Dot. Starting out as a reporter covering trending internet culture stories, I’ve grown to become an expert on all things …

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Colette Bennett

Hi! My name is Colette, and I knew I wanted to be a writer at age 9. I'm grateful and lucky today to be able to not only to make …

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Jeremy Blackmore

Freelance journalist | Editor | Copywriter | Public relations

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Emily Lundquist

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Latest Articles

Is being single a luxury now? Viral dating theory says yes: "My avoidant attachment took this as a direct threat"

A TikToker has shared her controversial theory on why being single is a luxury.In a now-viral video posted to the platform on March 3rd, user @onlinekeeks divided viewers with her positive opinion of singlehood. Her theory is being picked apart in follow-up videos on TikTok, and of course, there’s discourse …
By Laura Holliday
• The Daily Dot

Internet clashes over photo of man having intimate chat with AI girlfriend on the subway

A viral photo of a man talking to the large language model (LLM) ChatGPT on his phone has initiated extensive debate on X regarding contemporary uses of AI.The controversial photo, posted on June 3, 2025, shows a man on a packed subway train engrossed in an intimate and vulnerable conversation …
By Laura Holliday
• The Daily Dot

"My grandma isn't ready for this": Google's new AI video tool is so realistic, it's freaking people out

A new wave of AI-generated videos is taking the internet by storm. The videos—created with Google’s new, state-of-the-art AI video generator Veo 3—allow users to generate audio alongside visuals, leading to highly cinematic and hyperrealistic results. However, they are leaving users stunned and scared in equal measure, with many calling …
By Laura Holliday
• The Daily Dot

Here's why the Aerial Tramway Emoji is suddenly in every YouTube comment section

An emoji takeover is sweeping YouTube. After content creator John Casterline urged his 7.2 million subscribers to start using the aerial tramway emoji 🚡, allegedly the “least-used emoji in the world,” comment sections across the platform have been flooded with the little yellow icon.The campaign, which Casterline described as an …
By Laura Holliday
• The Daily Dot

Only Black first-class traveler says American Airlines "ran out" of meals before she could be served

A Black travel influencer is going viral after posting a TikTok alleging she was the only first-class passenger on an American Airlines flight who wasn’t served a meal. In a TikTok that has been viewed over 4.9 million times, the influencer says she was given just a cup of coffee, …
By Laura Holliday
• The Daily Dot

"Low GPA Activity" meme turns into school trend of kids setting their Chromebooks on fire

Videos of kids setting fire to Chromebooks are going viral in a supposed TikTok “trend,” causing outrage and debate over whether there’s a new wave of classroom vandalism spreading, or if we’re seeing another round of internet-fueled moral panic. Though some are cracking jokes, footage of Chromebooks smoking and going …
By Laura Holliday
• The Daily Dot

'The American mind can't comprehend this' meme has Americans and Europeans beefing

An image of a quintessential English terraced house led to a deeper discussion on X recently, regarding differences between European and American lifestyles. It’s part of an ongoing trend best summarized as ‘The American Mind Can’t Comprehend This’ meme—that, while often fun and lighthearted, hints at a growing gulf between …
By Laura Holliday
• The Daily Dot

People are feeding AI the same image 100 times, and it keeps changing race, gender, and weight. Here's why that's a problem:

The internet has a new AI-image generation trend, and as usual, it’s proving highly divisive. The craze began with a now-viral video where a user inputted a picture of his friend into ChatGPT—instructing it to “create the exact replica of this image, don’t change a thing,” over 70 times. The …
By Laura Holliday
• The Daily Dot

Leftist Twitch steamer, U.S citizen, says CBP searched phone at Mexico border

A self-described “leftist shitposter” said he had his phone searched while coming back into the U.S. from Mexico on March 31. The search comes as reports of Customs and Border Protection (CBP) searching travelers’ phones when entering the United States increase and, in some cases, denying entry over anti-Trump social …
By Hope Talbot
• The Daily Dot

EXCLUSIVE: Former U.S. military members, Patriot Front dropout secretly run Nazi publishing houses

In September 2024, a man by the name of “Royce” appeared on Stew Peters’ “Uncancelable” podcast.Peters is an extreme right-wing ideologue with over 500,000 followers on Rumble. He kicked off this particular episode by offering viewers a promo code for a Holocaust denial website.Royce was there to promote Europa: The …
By Steven Monacelli
• The Daily Dot

Columbia anonymous messaging app explodes in fury after Mahmoud Khalil arrest

The private messaging app Sidechat exploded following the arrest of a Palestinian activist who helped lead campus protests at Columbia University. Sidechat, an anonymous messaging app popular with college students that requires a university email address, has previously been used to coordinate protests at several American university campuses. It has …
By Hope Talbot
• The Daily Dot

X users aren't buying Musk's claim Ukraine was behind site's massive outage

Users on X are having a hard time believing Elon Musk’s claim that Ukraine was behind the site’s massive outage yesterday. Following lengthy outages on Monday that left thousands of users without access, Musk claimed the site experienced a “massive cyberattack.”“There was (still is) a massive cyberattack against X,” he …
By Hope Talbot
• The Daily Dot

A Hitler-quoting 'Aryan' has the attention of JD Vance and Elon Musk—who is @captivedreamer7?

Days after the 2024 election, Vice President JD Vance followed @captivedreamer7, an X user who boasted that his viral tweets about Haitians allegedly eating cats in September 2024 put it on Vance’s radar, sparking a weeks-long panic. The specious tale of migrants was a microcosm of both the election and …
By Steven Monacelli
• The Daily Dot

Gruesome POV TikToks of horrific tragedies are the latest get-rich-quick AI scheme

A TikTok with over 2.4 million views begins with the title “POV: You wake up as a slave in 1800s America.” Viewers “awake” to see their outstretched legs on the ground of a dirt-floor shack, before “blinking” and reappearing in a field, holding a basket of cotton, as other enslaved …
By Hope Talbot
• The Daily Dot

DOGE has saved Americans $55 billion. Or $24 billion. Or just $1.5 billion

In just a month of cost-cutting, Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) saved the federal government $55 billion. Or $24 billion. Or $16 billion. Or, barely over a billion dollars. A spate of trackers keeping an eye on DOGE’s contract terminations has sprung up—including on DOGE’s own website—and no …
By Hope Talbot
• The Daily Dot

Meta's AI Instagram bots spark swift backlash: 'Manufacturing the human experience'

Internet users swiftly went to work in the wake of an interview Meta executive Connor Hayes had with the Financial Times, where he said the company hosted entirely AI-generated characters that post on Instagram and other platforms. These profiles “exist on our platforms, kind of in the same way that …
By Hope Talbot
• The Daily Dot

The internet can't handle the United Healthcare CEO's alleged shooter being Italian

With the identity of the alleged United Healthcare shooter now revealed, the internet is turning to one of its favorite forms of discourse: Joking about Italians. The alleged shooter, identified as Luigi Mangione, was arrested in a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania earlier today. Mangione was born and raised in Maryland, …
By Hope Talbot
• The Daily Dot

Alleged United Healthcare CEO shooter read numerous books about chronic back pain

Today, authorities announced they’d arrested a “strong person of interest” after a nearly week-long manhunt in the shooting death of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thomspon. The New York Post confirmed the identity of Luigi Mangione, who was caught by police in Pennslyvania. According to the New York Times, police found …
By Hope Talbot
• The Daily Dot

Muppets community drama captivates the internet after prominent fan page outed as serial harasser

The Muppet History Account, @HistoryMuppet, issued a public apology Monday after mounting harassment claims against the account’s creators took over the web.Despite the account’s wholesome intended nature, admins of the account have been accused of harassing and bullying other Muppet-themed accounts. The apology, which amassed over two million views, led …
By Hope Talbot
• The Daily Dot

'Rock bottom': Matt Gaetz is dishing out career advice on Cameo—after nuking his own

After backing out of potentially serving in President-elect Donald Trump’s cabinet, Matt Gaetz pivoted to Cameo, a website where celebrities are paid to make videos for fans. Gaetz joined the platform on Friday, a day after he withdrew his name from consideration to serve as President-elect Donald Trump’s attorney general. …
By Hope Talbot
• The Daily Dot

EXCLUSIVE: Non-profit Linda McMahon chaired once steered $1 million to Project 2025 'sister' organization

This week, President-elect Donald Trump picked Linda McMahon, a former WWE executive, as his Education Secretary. The Department of Education is one of the many cabinet-level government agencies that Project 2025, the ultra-conservative wish list put forth by the Heritage Foundation, wants to eliminate. While the Trump campaign denied links …
By Hope Talbot
• The Daily Dot

Trump Jr.'s curious index finger moves at SpaceX launch sparks rampant speculation

A video of Donald Trump Jr. rubbing his gums with his index finger has people online wondering just, exactly, he might have been doing. Yesterday, Trump Jr. joined his father for SpaceX’s Starship rocket launch in Texas alongside Elon Musk.Following the event, the video surfaced online, showing Donald Trump Jr. …
By Hope Talbot
• The Daily Dot