Why I built this (and how)

Why I built this (and how)

Why
  • I read a lot about Trust & Safety and AI Safety and share these links on LinkedIn. However, these posts are very ephemeral. Folks see them once (if at all), and then move on to something else. I wanted a more permanent archive, and one that people can intentionally reference any time they want. They shouldn’t have to be on LinkedIn 24/7 to find helpful information.
  • I wanted something more searchable and sortable than a newsletter. Some of the links I post are perfect for a newsletter (and I’m working on a collab that I can hopefully announce soon), but many are evergreen resources — things that I’ll want to refer back to again and again, and always be able to find.
  • I also wanted to create posts by topic, grouping together resources in one area, adding some of my own commentary or advice, etc. One day I might create some worksheets or other resources.
    • (The TSPA library is a similar resource - and it’s great! It’s even better organized than this archive, and a lot of people have put in work to maintain it. However, I wanted a site where I could post some things that are newsworthy and of-the-moment, not just evergreen resources, and where I could personally throw in whatever I wanted.)
  • Finally, I wanted a space where I could save articles I’d written, podcast episodes I’ve been a guest on, etc… all of my professional links in one place, so I’d never forget what I did.
 
I hope this resource is helpful for you, not just me. If it is, let me know: hi@alicelinks.com.
 
(As an aside: This isn’t my first time making a highly nerdy website that categorizes information from third-party niche sources. When I was a teenager, I created a website where I organized and categorized information on rare vinyl records from obscure punk bands. Eventually, it turned into a community, and that’s how I got started in Trust & Safety.)
 
How
Building searchable database sites are so much easier than they used to be! 20 years ago when I did this the first time, I was teaching myself html, css, and php.
Now, I just use notion. They have a sanity-saving feature which allows me to clip links from my browser or my phone and save right to the database. You can view the link dump to see what I’m currently clipping in real-time.
I use potion for hosting, to keep everything under the alicelinks.com domain.
The Suggest a Link form is through Google forms.