Google Docs has become the social media of the resistance

The complex dynamics of K-pop fans as online vigilantes 

Sponsored by MIT Sloan The Download Your daily dose of what’s up in emerging technology 06.08.20 Good morning! Today: how protesters are using Google Docs to organize, and the complex dynamics of K-pop fans as online vigilantes. Get your friends to sign up here to get The Download every day. How Google Docs became the social media of the resistance   A surprising development: Google Docs has become one of the most important tools for organizing the police brutality protests in the US and around the globe. In just the last week, Google Docs has emerged as a way to share everything from lists of books on racism 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. Not new: Google Docs has always been used for purposes beyond simple word processing. More recently, during the pandemic, Google Docs were widely shared to help people deal with the stress of lockdown. Why it’s different: Compared to social media networks, Google Docs has a lot more persistence and editability. And while social media has been great for publicizing movements, it’s far less efficient at creating stable shelves of information that a person can return to. Read the full story. —Tanya Basu How K-pop fans became celebrated online vigilantes What happened: When the Dallas police called for the public to send them videos of illegal activity during protests a week ago, they didn’t get the evidence of law-breaking demonstrators they expected. Instead, fans of Korean pop music downloaded the police department’s app en masse, rallied each other to flood it with short videos, and gave it low ratings to make it less visible in the app store. The response: K-pop superfans have gained a new and appreciative online audience for other acts of protest and organizing, like hijacking racist hashtags and circulating petitions. Online culture loves a vigilante in times of crisis. However: The rapid veneration is overshadowing the more complex dynamics underlying K-pop fandom. And the newfound reputation for anti-racist heroism largely ignores the voices of black K-pop fans, who have struggled with racism and harassment within the community. Read the full story.  —Abby Ohlheiser We can still have nice things A place for comfort, fun and distraction in these weird times. (Got any ideas? Drop me a line or tweet 'em at me.)   + Check out this cute street art that washes away in the rain.   + Listen to these 12 field recordings to get your nature fix.   + Time to embrace the joy of eating outside. Sponsor Message People Analytics, Explained Done right, analytics let you keep your organization strong, even in times of change. MIT Sloan experts lay out four simple steps to talent analytics success. Get talent analytics right. The top ten must-reads I’ve combed the internet to find you today’s most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology. 1 Covid-19 cases were already increasing before the George Floyd protests The full impact probably won’t become clear until July. (Wired $)   + Police tactics could worsen transmission. (Wired $)   + If you see the cops, start recording. (The Verge)   + There’s little evidence of antifa infiltrating protests in the US. (AP) 2 Astronomers might have spotted an Earth-sized planet around a sun-sized star If it exists, it receives almost as much light as we get too. (TR) 3 Minneapolis City Council members plan to dismantle their police department They have pledged to “dramatically rethink how we approach public safety.” (CNN)   + New York’s mayor Bill de Blasio has promised to cut the NYPD’s funding. (NYT $)   + What does it mean to defund the police? (The Guardian) 4 Your genes may dictate how severely you get coronavirus Patients with Type A blood seem to be at greater risk. (NYT $)   + A UK laboratory is planning to sidestep the drug industry to sell a cheap covid vaccine. (NYT $) 5 Mark Zuckerberg has promised to label violent posts on Facebook Let’s see if this translates to any concrete change. (NPR)   + He’s trying to quell anger among employees over the company’s stance. (WP $)   + More than 140 Zuckerberg-funded scientists have called on Facebook to rein in Trump. (The Guardian)   + Why it won’t happen: Zuckerberg and Trump’s goals are aligned. (FT $) 6 How masks change our behavior 😷 They encourage people to keep a distance—but can also create a false sense of security. (WP $) 7 Lidar has revealed one of the biggest Mayan structures ever found  It’s speculated that the 1.4 kilometer-long structure in Mexico was used for astronomical observations. (ABC) 8 Domestic drone surveillance is becoming increasingly common in the US The tools of war seem to be coming home. (OneZero) 9 Yet more problems are emerging with Surgisphere The company has been blamed for the retraction of two high-profile scientific papers, and there may be more to come. (Buzzfeed) 10 Why it’s so hard to stop “doomscrolling” 📱😱 Infinite scroll, meet humans’ tendency to obsessively scan for danger. (WSJ $) EmTech Next kicks off today!  We've partnered with Harvard Business Review to bring you EmTech Next, a 3-day virtual conference examining technology, leadership, and change. You'll hear from executives at Google Cloud, Slack, and Zoom, among other organizations, about how to manage change while preparing for the next unknown. Register now and join the conversation.  Quote of the day “I think we have to recognize that for most of our history, our institutions were explicitly racist.” —US Attorney General William Barr acknowledges some hard truths about the country’s history during an interview with CBS. Top image credit: MS TECH | FLICKR: EP_JHU BY NC2.0 Please send field recordings to hi@technologyreview.com. Follow me on Twitter at @charlottejee. Thanks for reading! —Charlotte Was this newsletter forwarded to you, and you'd like to see more? 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