Chad DeBolt  

What Is A Mobile Petition?

There is a lot of talk about a mobile petition these days, especially with the tea party petition being so popular online.  A mobile petition usually flourishes through the internet and encourages action.  Instead of just signing a signature to a petition and moving on, those who are interested commit to performing some sort of action. 

In the case of the tea party petition that is circulating the internet through e-mails and press releases, the petition urges action and a recreation akin to the Boston Tea Party that some feel was the starting point of the American Revolution.  This mobile petition is focused on the stimulus bill and addition taxes that it will entail for future generations. 

A mobile petition is a cutting edge way of getting people rallied.  The internet has made it easy for petitions to circulate much quicker using online technology.  Prior to the internet and mobile petitions, those with a cause had to gather up supporters and circulate their petitions door to door.  Today, this can be done right online.

Using the internet for political purposes, such as a mobile petition, is not anything new.  A great deal of people feel that a key factor in the election of President Barack Obama was the fact that he knew how to rally people using the internet.  Obama understood the power of the internet in a way that previous presidents and candidates did not. 

The power of rallying people for political purposes online has not escaped the notice of those who have political motives or simply want to have their concerns addressed.  A mobile petition circulates easily and asks that those who read it sign their name and pass it on, or take action.  In addition to being used for political purposes, a mobile petition is also used to discuss some sort of grievance in the community or country that many people, without reading the mobile petition, may not be aware of. 

Using the power of the online media is an effective way to get any message hear.  While a great deal of the messages that are circulated through the use of the mobile petition have a political nature, many more of them are for humanitarian causes.  Still more are to defend an innocent person that may be wrongly accused of a crime, or to see that justice is done in the case where there is a crime victim. 

Unlike regular petitions that have to be circulated manually, the mobile petition takes on a life of its own as it moves through the hands of e-mail recipients at a rapid speed.  Most people who agree with the petition and the ideas behind it will pass it on to others.  Some will take action by signing the petition or joining a cause.  Others will not do anything, but will be aware of a situation that they might otherwise be uninformed. 

Because the power of the internet and viral communication is so effective, you can expect to see more petitions like the tea party petition, to be circulating on the internet.  The internet has changed the way that we communicate with one another and is also on the cutting edge of changing the way that politics work in the United States.