It appears that the use of this format has been growing, especially during the recent events (coronavirus pandemic, climate change then BLM protests).
I can't say a static webpage is any better, since that requires quite a bit of know-how, hosting costs, and other in-conveniences than just making the google doc public.
I also feel confused when celebrities et al. share their deep thoughts, apologies, outcries, and other information by screen-shotting a story written in their phone's notes app and posting the images, but there really isn't anything simpler and more reliable than that (since writing in non-native apps, especially iOS, tend to reset themselves and delete your text if you exit the app for too long).
Haven't thought about celebrities screen-shotting their thoughts but it's definitely a thing :) there could be something there.