Here at Mozilla, we’re the first to admit that the Internet isn’t perfect, but we know it’s pretty magical. The internet opens doors and opportunities, enables human connection and ensures that everyone can find where they belong: their corners of the internet. We all have an internet story worth sharing. In My corner of the internetwe talk to people about the online spaces they can’t get enough of, the sites and forums that shaped them, and what reclaiming the Internet really looks like.
This month we chat with Cassidy Williams, better known as Cassidoo X And TikTok and is the CTO of the AI company Contenda. We talk about the forums that shaped her career, building a community online and offline, and her favorite subreddit for niche drama.
What is your favorite corner of the internet?
I have a Discord group through my Patreon [and] Twitch I originally created for reviewing resumes and preparing for job interviews, but it has turned into my absolute favorite place to chat with friends every day! I think it’s been a really good “third place” for myself and some other people during the pandemic, and we’ve become really good friends talking about technology, but also just helping each other and learning together!
What’s one internet deep dive you can’t wait to dive back into?
There’s a subreddit called r/HobbyDrama where people share detailed stories about hobby communities and the drama that goes on within them, and I absolutely love it. They’re usually very specific hobbies and communities that I rarely knew existed, sharing dramatic stories about people being assholes, or a twist of fate changing things, or something along those lines. So many times I have gone deep into learning about a hobby purely because I now have a lot of specific information that makes it even more fun!
What tab do you always regret closing?
The MDN docs, I feel like all the years I’ve been a developer, I always check the specific syntax, there!
What can’t you stop talking about on the internet right now?
Walkability and mixed-use housing. I’ve been digging into that *really* deeply lately, because I think countries outside of the US are doing a pretty good job of building community outside of individual homes by not being too car-centric and by making it the norm to go anywhere to walk, have easy access to public transport and live in a place where everything is close by. I honestly think it would improve almost everything about our country in general if we focused more on that, and… I won’t shut up about it, ha!
What was the first online community you came into contact with?
Waaaay, back in the early to mid 2000s I was very active on a number of forums and message boards where I learned a lot about web design and technology in general. I don’t even remember how I discovered them in the first place, and most of them are no longer on the internet, but those early forums of people sharing knowledge totally changed the trajectory of my future career!
Also…Neopets, huh.
If you could create your own corner of the internet, what would it look like?
Outside of the Discord group I mentioned, I may have more of a content sharing hub. I think we’re at a point on the internet where people are very spread out, not all on Twitter, not all on Facebook, not all on Instagram, etc., and I would love to have a hub or feed of people who are dealing with share each other. RSS fills that gap a bit, so maybe a combination of chat + RSS? It sounds very old-fashioned!
What articles and/or videos are you waiting to read/watch next?
The Manifesto for a Human Web and Maya Rudolph’s SNL episode!
In a recent one blog post you compared life in Chicago to the internet of old, where you made random but lasting friendships. What parts of the internet now make you optimistic about its future?
I think Discord servers are the closest thing we have to such close-knit communities right now. I also *love* the People & Blogs series, where I learned a lot about fun topics and writers I didn’t know before, as well as the software and content from the folks at Good Enough!
Cassidy Williams is a Chicago-based software developer who builds the AI-powered talk-out-loud app Brainstory at Contenda. She is also a startup advisor and investor, expert by experience for developers and meme maker on the internet. In her spare time she enjoys building mechanical keyboards, playing music and teaching. You can subscribe to her newsletter about the world of web development and play her word game Jumblie.
