Stealth wealth TikToks, a dark mode hack and fun web finds
Stories about the web you won’t find anywhere else.
The Sidebar is a newsletter from Mozilla, the makers of Firefox. We’ll drop into your inbox every week with tech insights, tips and behind-the-scenes stories about the web you won’t find anywhere else.
WHAT WE LOVED ON THE WEB THIS WEEK
A novel way to use TikTok
Sanibel Lazar hadn’t touched social media since 2015. Then she wrote a novel and realized she’d have to promote it herself.
Instead of joining BookTok, she made TikToks about the stuff her book’s about: stealth wealth, toxic etiquette and quiet luxury. Then she plugged the book at the very end.
She calls it oblique content: like a perfume ad, but for a novel about class, race and friendship.
I’ve been thinking a lot about how people are using the internet on their own terms — building audiences by leading with ideas, not algorithms. Sanibel’s approach is a great example of that.
People started tuning in to what she had to say not because she asked them to buy something, but because the content itself was worth watching. If you’ve been looking to get inspired in putting your work out there, start here.
— Kristina, editor at Mozilla
HOW-TO…
Use dark mode on Google Docs
If you’ve ever stayed up too late editing in Google Docs, you know how rough a bright white screen can be. One workaround is an extension called Dark Reader.
It lets you turn on dark mode for sites that don’t offer it. Just install it, toggle it on and adjust the settings to whatever feels easiest on your eyes.
🔗 This tip comes from our accessibility team, who pulled together this list of tools for anyone who wants the web to be a little easier to use — whether or not you identify as disabled.
THE COMMENT SECTION
There’s a whole internet outside the feed
ICYMI: We talked to game developer Nolen Royalty, who makes weird, joyful multiplayer games — the kind people call “old internet” not because they’re retro, but because they feel personal and made for the fun of it.
That kind of internet still exists. It just doesn’t always show up in your feed.
You find it in forums, personal sites, group chats. It’s more about sharing than scaling.
👾Read our conversation with Nolen here.
ONE COOL PROJECT
A lo-fi browser game built for sound
If you need a break from your tabs, Aliens is a quick, satisfying game you play by ear.
My colleague Jamie Teh, a longtime Mozillian, built it as a web audio experience where you track aliens by pitch and blast them before they hit the ground. It’s adapted from a classic game originally designed for blind players, and still centers sound over visuals.
No login, no setup — just a keyboard, some headphones and a reason to pause whatever else you were doing.
🎧 Try it here — best on desktop.
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