How Google Docs became the social media of the resistance

Google Docs has risen as one of the key tools for organizing George Floyd-related protests. It’s not encrypted, doesn’t rely on signing in to a social network, and wasn’t even designed for this purpose. Google Docs has emerged as a way to share everything from lists of books on racism to templates for letters to family members and representatives to lists of funds and resources that are accepting donations. Shared Google Docs that anyone can view and anyone can edit, anonymously, have become a valuable tool for grassroots organizing during both the coronavirus pandemic and the police brutality protests sweeping the US. It’s not the first time. In fact, activists and campaigners have been using the word processing software for years as a more efficient and accessible protest tool than either Facebook or Twitter.