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THANK YOU LEO!!!!
Thank you for posting this. I try and try to explain to people why these petitions are stupid (especially the e-mail ones that say "add your name and forward this"). Now I'll just send them this link.
You are truly a wonderful person and a savior to all mankind.
Posted by: Greg Bulmash at October 7, 2005 11:58 PM
In all the writeups on internet petitions, no one mentions what I call the "geometric duplication of signatures". If Joe Smith starts a petition and sends it out to 100 people, his name will appear on all 100 petitions. If those 100 people send the petition out to 100 people each, Joe Smith's name will appear on 10,000 petitions and so on. And, a similar multiplier effect will occur for everyone who signs, albeit to lesser degrees depending on where their names appear in the list.
To me, this is the biggest reason for NOT participating in internet petitions.
Comments?
Posted by: John Fischer at January 30, 2006 12:48 PM
There is another factor in signing internet petitions if you are from outside the US. If you sign an internet or email petition that makes a criticism of the US in any way, it can come up if you have to apply for a working visa. This actually happened a friend of mine.
Posted by: Cathal at October 7, 2008 8:18 AM
Leo, I always reply to my Dying with Dignity petitions & was really amused when they told us how to do multiple entries to a news paper petition ! [there is life in us old dogs yet ]
Don't YOU dare retire, or we will have to follow you to US, & I havn't won the lottery yet.
Lilian. O
Posted by: Lilian at October 7, 2008 5:59 PM
Leo,
Do you think Facebook petitions and Care2 petitions are any better? I would be interested in your comments on how they solve or do not solve the problems you mentioned.
Thank,
ND
Nope. They might make you feel better, but in general the people you're trying to reach either never see them, or don't pay attention to the results.
- Leo 08-Feb-2009
Posted by: Noel at February 7, 2009 5:20 PM
If mine is the first name on the list, on how many lists will my name have appeared if they all get 100 entries? Some mathematical genius might care to work it out. But I can only legitimately sign a petition once, so the lists are invalid anyway.
My wife is a British citizen and she was asked to sign a perition. You were sent a specific form on which to record your vote and given the e-mail address of the government department that was being petitioned. That makes sense.
Posted by: Mike Mackintosh at February 9, 2009 7:26 AM
Maybe those Internet petitions won't get enough signatures. We want the gas prices lowered and there were petitions for that. Also I want to make my public transportation better and also have unfair rules repealed like portable DVD players allowed on the buses as long as those people with them use headphones and don't distract others with it. I also think that high gas prices cost me driving lessons.
Even if they do get "enough" signatures, internet petitions are ineffective and a waste of time.
05-Jun-2010
Posted by: Timothy at June 3, 2010 6:35 PM
There are SOME good uses. Mainly as feedback. For instance: if a facebook petition to save whales has 1 millon signatures, you can tell that the issue has public opinion. Now, the petition might do nothing, BUT some politician might be able to leverage this and will do something to get votes.
(Just like I KNOW that not many people care to Save the Woolly Mammoth)
In Australia we have the 'Get Up' organisation which often does online petitions. They can take it to whatever level of government and say 'there are a lot of VOTING people who want logging stopped, is this a good hint?'
But they're the exceptions to the rule.
Anyone with even a hint of internet familiarity should never pay attention to internet petitions because they are trivial to manipulate and falsify. So, no, you cannot and should not assume that any internet petition with 1,000,000 "signatures" means that 1,000,000 people care. Get 1,000,000 people to write a letter instead and you'll get someone's attention.
14-Oct-2011
Posted by: Fred Nerd at October 13, 2011 6:29 PM
What about this one then?
http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/
Of course, regarding many petitions, especially on Facebook, I absolutely agree with you.
Posted by: James at November 15, 2011 12:43 PM
Read the article that everyone's commenting on.
Subscribe to the RSS Feed for comments on this article.
Comments
Read the article that everyone's commenting on.
Subscribe to the RSS Feed for comments on this article.
THANK YOU LEO!!!!
Thank you for posting this. I try and try to explain to people why these petitions are stupid (especially the e-mail ones that say "add your name and forward this"). Now I'll just send them this link.
You are truly a wonderful person and a savior to all mankind.
Posted by: Greg Bulmash at October 7, 2005 11:58 PMIn all the writeups on internet petitions, no one mentions what I call the "geometric duplication of signatures". If Joe Smith starts a petition and sends it out to 100 people, his name will appear on all 100 petitions. If those 100 people send the petition out to 100 people each, Joe Smith's name will appear on 10,000 petitions and so on. And, a similar multiplier effect will occur for everyone who signs, albeit to lesser degrees depending on where their names appear in the list.
To me, this is the biggest reason for NOT participating in internet petitions.
Comments?
Posted by: John Fischer at January 30, 2006 12:48 PMThere is another factor in signing internet petitions if you are from outside the US. If you sign an internet or email petition that makes a criticism of the US in any way, it can come up if you have to apply for a working visa. This actually happened a friend of mine.
Posted by: Cathal at October 7, 2008 8:18 AMLeo, I always reply to my Dying with Dignity petitions & was really amused when they told us how to do multiple entries to a news paper petition ! [there is life in us old dogs yet ]
Posted by: Lilian at October 7, 2008 5:59 PMDon't YOU dare retire, or we will have to follow you to US, & I havn't won the lottery yet.
Lilian. O
Leo,
Do you think Facebook petitions and Care2 petitions are any better? I would be interested in your comments on how they solve or do not solve the problems you mentioned.
Thank,
ND
08-Feb-2009
If mine is the first name on the list, on how many lists will my name have appeared if they all get 100 entries? Some mathematical genius might care to work it out. But I can only legitimately sign a petition once, so the lists are invalid anyway.
Posted by: Mike Mackintosh at February 9, 2009 7:26 AMMy wife is a British citizen and she was asked to sign a perition. You were sent a specific form on which to record your vote and given the e-mail address of the government department that was being petitioned. That makes sense.
Maybe those Internet petitions won't get enough signatures. We want the gas prices lowered and there were petitions for that. Also I want to make my public transportation better and also have unfair rules repealed like portable DVD players allowed on the buses as long as those people with them use headphones and don't distract others with it. I also think that high gas prices cost me driving lessons.
05-Jun-2010
Posted by: Timothy at June 3, 2010 6:35 PM
There are SOME good uses. Mainly as feedback. For instance: if a facebook petition to save whales has 1 millon signatures, you can tell that the issue has public opinion. Now, the petition might do nothing, BUT some politician might be able to leverage this and will do something to get votes.
(Just like I KNOW that not many people care to Save the Woolly Mammoth)
In Australia we have the 'Get Up' organisation which often does online petitions. They can take it to whatever level of government and say 'there are a lot of VOTING people who want logging stopped, is this a good hint?'
But they're the exceptions to the rule.
14-Oct-2011
What about this one then?
http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/
Of course, regarding many petitions, especially on Facebook, I absolutely agree with you.
Posted by: James at November 15, 2011 12:43 PMTo post a comment on "Why are internet petitions a bad idea?", please return to that article's main page.