This edition of the FabBlog is built around an Internet Exchange piece we wrote with the Rise Against Big Tech Coalition: “What Do We Want? To Stop Using Google Docs!” It’s about why our movements need to talk honestly about the tools we rely on, and what it really takes to move beyond them.
When do we want it?
As soon as our teams have actually talked about what comes next and how we’ll get there together.
The article looks at how deeply social change organisations are embedded in Google Docs and Microsoft 365, drawing on the recent Rise Against Big Tech “Sharing Documents” workshop. It traces how we ended up treating these platforms as invisible infrastructure, and surfaces the risks we’re carrying: surveillance, lock‑in, loss of control over campaign data, and the quiet extraction of our work into AI systems. It also shares concrete experiences, like Climate Justice Alliance’s move to a self‑hosted Nextcloud stack, to show that exits are possible—but not effortless. You can read the full article here and use it as a prompt for that conversation with your staff: What Do We Want? To Stop Using Google Docs!
From analysis to action
In the context of digital platforms “What Do We Want?” is really a question about power: who controls the tools that hold our work, and on whose terms. The article sketches the landscape of options: Riseup pads, Nextcloud, CryptPad, Proton, BookStack, Nocodb and more, along with their strengths and sharp edges. It highlights that the hardest problems aren’t usually technical; they’re about change management, digital literacy, tech trauma, and the gravitational pull of convenience.
This is exactly where our Values‑Aligned Tech Migration Strategies Service comes in.
FabRiders supports organisations to:
- Ground tech decisions in organisational values and threat models, instead of just features.
- Have structured, inclusive conversations among staff about what’s working, what isn’t, and what risks feel unacceptable.
- Map out realistic, phased migration plans that respect capacity, budgets and existing skills.
- Treat migration as organisational culture change, building champions, documentation and shared ownership, rather than dropping a new tool on people and hoping for the best.
If you’re starting to think about life after Google Docs, here’s a simple next step:
1. Share the Internet Exchange article with your team.
2. Put “What do we want from our digital platforms?” on a staff meeting or strategy day agenda.
If you’d like support turning that discussion into a concrete, values‑aligned migration strategy, get intouch.
