Page 9 - Tina Morlock - How to Avoid Slacktivism

But, What About Online Petitions?

Another tool at your disposal as a new activist are online petitions. Websites such as Change.org
(http://www.change.org), The Petition Site (http://www.thepetitionsite.com), Petition Online
(http://www.petitiononline.com), Go Petition (http://www.gopetition.com), and iPetitions
(http://www.ipetitions.com) offer platforms which will allow you to easily create and share
petitions through social media, email, text messaging, and other virtual media. But, how effective
are they? Much like we’ve discussed with Facebook and Twitter, their effectiveness depends on
what other efforts you put forward.

Figure 3: from Change.org’s homepage.

In his article in New York Times, Christopher Mele touches lightly on how an online petition on
websites can benefit your movement – “worldwide, Change.org users claim one victory per hour,
A.J. Walton, a spokesperson for the online petition forum, said in an interview” (Mele para. 5).
And, other interviews Mele conducted for this article point to a more important role online
petitions serve for someone wanting to inspire change.

The biggest benefit from a petition is raised awareness, Jason Del Gandio, a professor of
communications and social movements at Temple University in Philadelphia, said in an
interview. “In some ways it’s just the updated version of the letter-writing campaign to a
representative that has been going on for years,” he said. (Mele para. 11)

So, while traditional petitions signed by registered voters can be more powerful alone with the
same number of signatures, an online petition has a much larger purpose than getting a bill to
pass in Congress or influencing a member of the government to pursue impeaching the President.

Beyond seeking change, petitions serve other important functions, such as mobilizing
supporters and reinforcing views, Gerald Benjamin, a political scientist and director of