Online petition platforms symbolize many of the pros and cons of digital organizing: they can be used to amass huge amounts of support around an issue, but have been criticized as a tactic when groups use them to collect email addresses, rather than deliver change. Some online petitions are never delivered, and congressional staff are skeptical of the tactic.

Suggested reading:

• The value of ‘between-election’ political participation: Do parliamentary e-petitions matter to political elites? Felicity Matthews, 2021
• Digital campaigner Pete Moorey takes on what makes a good petition (and a bad one). (2019)
• Color of Change’s guide to creating an online petition campaign.