It’s always bittersweet when someone leaves the Daily Dot. (Happens all the time! You think we’d be used to it by now!) The people who work here have developed close-knit ties and long friendships as they bond over loving to work here and hating to work here. Losing someone often can feel like a best friend moving from down the street to across the country.
But our loss is the world’s gain. Former staffers with the site have gone across the media landscape, providing trenchant reporting, insightful analysis, and amazing internet projects at some of the biggest sites on the internet. (We don’t need to toot our own horn, you know which ones they are.)
The people who have come through here have gone on to reach millions with their journalism, through their drive and passion, which for many was first fostered here.
So we asked some former staffers to talk about their love of the Daily Dot, which reached 10 years today, a lifetime on the internet, as they say.
Molly Stier, Social Media Editor
The Daily Dot first welcomed me when I was a college student back in [redacted]. For the next three years, I did lots of tweets and blogs and pet lots of good dogs. I cut my teeth and found a path in my career. I could spend more time talking about how much I grew as a pro, but I’d rather shine a selfie spotlight on the people (and the dogs!!!) They’re the best.
Thanks for the MEMEories. Cheers to 10 years and may there be many more!
Phil Tracy, Tech Reporter
I can’t think of a better place to have started my career as a consumer tech journalist than at the Daily Dot. Being around such supportive editors helped me break out of my shy, quiet just-out-of-college shell and find my voice—not just on paper, but as a person. I have only the fondest memories of my brief yet invaluable stint writing for the site. Every day, I got to work with brilliant journalists who took the time to help me punch up a lede, tinker with a headline, or kindly tell me to try again. As pivotal as the Daily Dot was in my journey as a journalist, what makes the site so special is the people—a tight-knit group I’m lucky to be a part of. So here’s to a happy 10th anniversary to the Daily Dot; I can’t wait to see what comes next.
Rob Price, Staff Writer
The Daily Dot was my first full-time journalism gig and I’ll always remember my time there fondly—even working from a tiny desk in a WeWork knock-off in London, 3,500 miles from my nearest colleagues. I learned an absolute ton, met some great colleagues, and got to write some impactful stories I’m proud of, from the impactful to the just plain weird. It was diving deeply into internet culture and niche communities long before it was cool.
Aaron Sankin, Senior Staff Writer, Air Bud Section
When I first joined the Daily Dot as a reporter all the way back in 2013, the organization was pitched to me as the manifestation of an idea: That brain-broken internet weirdos deserved news written by brain-broken internet weirdos about brain-broken internet weirdos. Inside the newsroom, that idea was embodied by a four-word directive: “Find The Internet Angle.”
It’s an attitude as much as it is an ethos. It invited a pose of resigned affection, akin to the one you hold for the town where you grew up, but applied to the collective digital efforts of all humanity. Yeah, the parking is terrible and it kind of has a weird smell, but it’s MY weird smell. (The smell, it turns out, was coming from Reddit).
The concept of a local newspaper for the internet seemed quirky, if not radical at the time. But, in the years since, it came to eat the world, as everyone, from YouTube-addicted toddlers to the erstwhile President of the United States had their brains melted into glorious, terrifying mush by an endless parade of glowing rectangles. And, for all of it, the Daily Dot was there—simultaneously holding up a mirror to the internet’s present and opening a window into its future.
For its second decade, I have faith that the Dot will never stop chasing that internet angle. Hell, it may even find it.
Patrick Howell O’Neill, Staff Writer
About a decade ago when the site was new, I blogged, I met my wife, and then I blogged some more at the Daily Dot. It was essentially J school for me and the people I met there can take responsibility for my career today. You god damn monsters.
Melanie (Price) Hopkins, Social Media Editor
The Daily Dot provided a great learning opportunity for me as a college student and then turned into my first job post-graduation. It was even better once I started being paid to work, ha! 👀
I met and worked with so many wonderful people during my time at the Dot in New York and Austin. I cherish many of those good memories, and suppress some of the not-so-good ones.
Cheers to 10 more years!
Christine Burkson, Creative Strategist and Chairwoman of the Twisty Glass Blunt
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair.
Cooper Fleishman, Everything.
I fully believe the Dot (always read in Kevin Collier’s reporter voice, with an emphasis on the t, like “Dottt”) will outlive us all. It’s not just the impeccable SEO strategy or the Texas-barbecue-fueled shoe-leather reporting, though those things certainly elevate the Daily Dot beyond every other internet-news destination out there. It’s that this place has a knack for gathering the sweetest bunch of sweeties who ever made content. It proves that great journalism is about heart, tenacity, and geeky obsessions—not Ivy League degrees or famous last names. Stay hungry and stay weird. I hope I get to write one of these in another 10 years.
Eric Geller, Staff Writer
I don’t think I could have had a better first job straight out of college than being a reporter at the Daily Dot. I was a true novice, but I found everything I needed there. The best part was how the editors trusted their reporters to find and cover the stories that mattered most to our audience. Until I left the Daily Dot, I didn’t realize how much of a rare gift it was to have editors who were smart and experienced enough to know when to step in with guidance and direction and when to step back and defer to reporters. I wouldn’t be the journalist I am today without that supportive and trusting environment.
What really made the Daily Dot work was the sense of community among its journalists. Our chat rooms (first on Hipchat, then, after a much-heralded migration, on Slack) were full of banter, bickering, and brainstorming that made going to work feel fun and exciting. Some of my favorite stories emerged from those conversations, as offhand suggestions became increasingly specific and real. I’ll never forget the entire politics team collaborating on a hard-hitting story about Air Bud’s cybersecurity policy views.
As the Daily Dot’s sole correspondent in Washington, D.C., I was physically isolated from the core teams in Austin and New York, but I never felt left out. I have fond memories of the late nights at our 2015 company retreat, where I formed strong bonds with people who remain some of my closest friends. We’ve since gone our separate ways, and some have left journalism altogether, but we’re all leading incredibly successful careers, and our group chat occasionally pauses to reflect on how amazing it was when we were all together, on the same team, working for the hometown newspaper of the internet.
EJ Dickson, Staff Writer
The Daily Dot took a huge chance on me by hiring me as a staff writer right out of J school. I was one of a very small and very fortunate handful of journalists to find employment right after graduation. From the second I stepped foot into St Catherine’s to meet my new colleagues—the friendliest man in the world (Cooper Fleishman) and among the least friendly (Miles Klee)—I knew there was no place like it in media. I met some of my very best friends at the Daily Dot—one of them was a bridesmaid at my wedding, another is my dog’s unofficial godfather, another is a badass at Netflix now and one of the most hilarious and sweetest people I know—and on a personal level, I will be eternally grateful to the Dot for that.
On a professional level, the Daily Dot doesn’t get nearly enough credit for two things: 1) being the internet’s “newspaper of record” and taking digital culture and creators seriously before everyone else did; and 2) fostering some of the most gifted new voices on the internet. Everyone I worked with was spectacularly bright and talented and I feel really fortunate I can call a lot of these people my lifelong friends. Austin, Kevin, and Cooper deserve so much kudos for bringing on a lot of the writers and editors who changed the internet forever and on a personal level, I can’t believe I was lucky enough to be paid for writing stories about things like rosebudding in porn and the time I got high and started an Amelia Bedelia hoax on Wikipedia. There was really a sense at the time that even very young, inexperienced writers had a long leash to try new things and pursue the craziest of ideas and that’s extremely rare in newsrooms these days. Overall I feel an immense sense of gratitude toward the Daily Dot for playing a pivotal role in getting me to where I am today, and I still am pumped whenever I see any DD articles go viral or break news. Mostly, I’m grateful for the people I met there. I’m jealous of the new crop of writers and editors who get to work there and I can only hope they had the same experience I did.
Taylor Hatmaker, Former Daily Dot Tech Editor + Sr. Reporter
For me, being at the Daily Dot was a rare work era where you know that you’re gonna be looking back and tweeting nostalgically about it in a few years for a retrospective post that you’ll fail to turn in by the deadline. The Daily Dot is great and like EJ said it doesn’t get enough credit, mostly because everyone was probably busy copying its big idea or stealing its writers. Reporting on internet subcommunities was the Dot’s whole thing and now internet subcommunities, creators, streamers and whatever are *the* whole thing—everything. The Dot was really early to even looking at the internet like that at all.
The Dot was an incredible place to punch way up with serious investigative reporting, mostly about weird and or sinister stuff you found on the internet where no one else was looking. But it was also an incredible place to undermine your real work for a ridiculous story you just wanted to write because you thought it was funny. For any reporter who prefers to wildly swing between both, it was the perfect place to be.
I can safely say that the Dot was the only place I’ve worked where I enjoyed big all-staff editorial meetings, which we had every Friday. This very ragtag group of kind and brilliant people would get together and collectively simulate what I can only imagine is a very legitimate equivalent to whatever you’d learn at J-school. I didn’t go to J-school or even know it was called J-school before the Daily Dot, but after learning stuff from the scrappy group of weirdos there I can safely pretend that I did most of the time.
The people were also very, very good. The friends I made at the Dot are still the core group of folks I lean on for various professional and existential crises because they are both very smart and very nice, which is an exceedingly rare combination! One time I even went to a butterfly exhibit with Eric Geller, which is an experience I recommend to everyone.
Jessica Machado, IRL Editor
Coming from the old-timey print world, I arrived at the Daily Dot startled at what I didn’t know. I had to quickly learn what even is a CMS, how to parse through bad stock images, and why every meme deserved a 500-word post. But it also gave me space to spread my wings; it was the first journalism job that believed in me—letting me run a section, helm a team, and write headlines like this. It was also a fun place to hang. Happy birthday, DD. Stay strange.
Samantha Grasso, Staff Writer
In some ways, I miss my time at the Daily Dot. I worked with so many of my college friends, and made new friendships that have sustained after leaving the Dot. I reported and wrote some of my favorite pieces, doing what I did best (being nosy on the internet). And learned a lot about myself, and what I wanted out of life, and the kind of journalist I wanted to be. I owe so much thanks to Jess (especially, especially Jess), Ramon, David, and Josh, my fearless editors who were also my greatest teachers and advocates. And I am ultimately grateful for the lessons I learned here, even through the most taxing of times. Though some of us have moved on, I know that the heart of the Daily Dot remains its hardest workers, and it wouldn’t be a decade of the Daily Dot without them. When I look back on my memories during my time at the Dot, here are just a few of my favorites:
- Getting first-day-of-the-internship burgers with Nia, Phil, and Molly, thanks to Ramon and Melanie- Going to the New York office with Molly and getting us lost on the subway along the way
- Holding down the Daily Dot young millennials delegation with Kris, Lauren and Molly in the Teen Chat
- Reading through my stress and talking it out in my mini book club with Sarah- All the funny, weird, panicked, sidetracked banter in #editorial-happy-hour, and every random Slack DM from David
- Getting to meet so many out-of-Austin coworkers IRL: Anna, Michelle, Ellen, Jess, David (and Mandy!), TK and even JAY!- My little going away dinner with Kris, Tess, Bryan, Audra, Monica, and Ramon
Kate Knibbs, Staff Writer
There’s no better place for young weirdos to write for and about the internet than the Daily Dot, and I’m so glad it’s thriving as it enters its second decade!
Ana Valens, Staff Writer
I could write endlessly and endlessly about the opportunities Daily Dot provided me. To write about trans sexuality, sex workers’ rights, queer internet history, and problematic dragon dildo retailers. But instead: The internet today would not exist as it does without Dot. Digital media has been forever revolutionized by it, by its interest in serious reporting on internet subcultures, and by the writers who lent their voice to said reporting over the years. Long live Dot.
Austin Powell, Managing Editor
When the Daily Dot launched 10 years ago, Gawker called it a “newspaper for crazy Internet people.” The idea of an entire publication dedicated to the happenings of the social web—that there could be news, celebrities, and scandals worth close examination on a daily basis—seemed preposterous. And indeed, it was.
It’s hard to remember the Internet then, in the early days of Facebook, back when memes consisted entirely of blocked white text. It’s so distant in our collective memory that you might as well be talking about dial-up or Nintendo cartridges.
Those early years were some of my favorites. Everything felt new and bold. We were explorers in uncharted territory, figuring out what it meant to report from Reddit and Tumblr, how to build sources entirely online, and how to use data to tell compelling stories.
So much has changed since then. The social web has snared us all, and over the last decade, the Daily Dot captured that transition then stunning detail. Now we’re all crazy Internet people.
Andrew Couts, Layer 8 Editor
Don’t tell Nick or Austin, but when I joined the Daily Dot in 2014, I barely knew what I was doing. I did my best to pretend otherwise, but turns out, it was fine—the ability to make it up as you go is a crucial skill when you’re building something new. In addition to assembling an absolutely baffling team of talented journalists, the Daily Dot defined the ways in which the internet and internet cultures are covered across the media. And it created room for its reporters and editors to spearhead burgeoning beats that have in the years since become mainstays across the industry—cybersecurity, online disinformation, and the broader use of the internet as a weapon, political and otherwise, wielded by anyone who wants to use it.
Shaping the ways we cover and talk about the internet is what the Daily Dot’s first decade should be remembered for. What I will always remember, however, is the ceaseless support this team of misfits gave me throughout my time there. Whether it was simply an extremely stressful news week, a sick pet, or a death in the family, the Daily Dot crew was there with kind words, good memes, and, sometimes, cookies. Thank you for tolerating me while I figured out what I was doing.