Something terrifying about the way censorship is just straight up happening right now and they're barely trying to pretend that isn't what it is. The UK rolling out the Online Safety Act which forces anyone accessing 'adult' content (including discord, LGBT+ forums, various resources for drug addicts etc.) to share their face and ID with American third party companies, and refusing to debate a repeal in parliament despite 300,000 signatures on their own website to do so. Something fishy going on with Google docs suddenly deleting/restricting content. Itchio and Steam suddenly deleting 18+ games including both porn games and horror games at the behest of Mastercard.
Like. Truly in the past month the censorship is hitting like a truck and we're all just supposed to be fine with it. Like. It's genuinely making me feel sick.
We’ve seen a number of writers sharing stories about suddenly losing access to their Google Docs today.
It’s still unclear what’s causing this, but if you’re concerned about big tech creeping in creative tools and spaces… you’re definitely not alone. (We’ve written about de-Googling and censorship before.)
You should be able to write freely—without fear of deletion, censorship, or extraction.
All writing should be safe. It should stay yours.
We want to help build a space where writers are in control:
Ownership of your work. No surveillance; no surprise removals.
Sync, share, and collab, without scraping or data-selling.
A writing tool that you know is safe, now and in the future.
Please stay informed. Back up your work. And don't be evil (👀 Google).
Just found this but couldn’t reblog it. I had just finished organizing a doc for a fanfic that I’m working on with a friend…. I guess I need to fucking move it now. Ffs.
Do you think it's a good idea to try and get away from Google Docs when it comes to writing? I really can't afford any other fancy program to write my drafts in, and it honestly seems like the easiest - not to mention, most convenient - program to use to share my manuscript with beta readers. I could use advice on this matter because I keep seeing things across the net about it being a bad place to work on writing, but I have no idea what to turn to to make things easy for me and my future beta readers.
This is such a good question. Thank you.
So, a little backstory. Ever since Google removed their motto "do no evil" they have gone down the rather predictable path of all big players of the rot economy: putting profits over user experience.
A little while back, there was rumor that Google trains AI with the content of google docs, then they said they don't really, they only scan the content and do nothing with it, and then they started blocking access to documents with sexy images. Do we believe that Google has our own best interest at heart? That's something everyone has to decide for themselves.
Back then, I made a post with alternatives for Google Docs, you can find it here, also check the reblogs for more options:
💬 15 🔁 814 ❤️ 1155 · Alternatives to google docs · For various reasons, this is now a hot topic. I'm putting my favorites here, please add
Now, is it a good idea to switch from google docs? I think it is, but I'm also not consistent with it. As you mentioned, it seems to be the easiest to share writing with beta readers, and I also still often use it for fanfiction.
But there are alternatives, and they require very little adjustment in the process. Let me give you two free options.
Ellipsus is webbased, meaning you can write in it in the browser on any device. They have sharing, specifically for beta reading, and an export function for AO3.
Write, edit, and collaborate on any device. Ellipsus is a principled alternative to Google Docs—built for writers, by writers. Sign up for f
Reedsy (marketplace around everything self-publishing) has an editor. It is webbased, and they also have an option for sharing with beta readers. This software is aimed at book type-setting and exporting but it works just fine for copying to web.
Reedsy Studio is the best online writing app to help you go from blank page to published book. Organize chapters, set goals, format as you w
Personally, I'm currently switching everything to LibreOffice (also free!) files in some cloud connected folder. I used to do a lot of mobile writing on my phone with a bluetooth keyboard but currently, I'm taking my laptop everywhere so LibreOffice works great for me. If I have to use my phone or tablet for some lightweight mobile writing, on vacation for instance, I can still use something webbased.
So, I hope I gave you some interesting options. Do I think it's a good idea to make us less dependent on Google? Yes, I do. I don't trust them.
We have alternatives, and they cost us nothing more than a little adjustment.
