Do Online Petitions Work?

Do Online Petitions Work?

Top of Mind with Julie Rose - Season 1, Episode 512 , Segment 1

Do Online Petitions Work?, Reality of Extreme Poverty in America

Episode: Do Online Petitions Work?, Reality of Extreme Poverty in America

  • Mar 17, 2017 11:00 pm
  • 51:31 mins

Guest: Jennifer Earl, PhD, Professor of Sociology, Government and Public Policy, University of Arizona; David Karpf, PhD, Professor of Media and Public Affairs, George Washington University Slacktivism. That’s the belittling term critics use to describe the way it’s become so easy to sign an online petition, forward a Facebook post or Tweet a hashtag and feel like we’ve actually made a difference. Has the internet ruined activism? Are online campaigns as effective as old-school protests in bringing change? Take online petitions: There’s one on the White House website right now calling for President Trump to release his tax returns – it’s got over 1 million signatures. But so far no tax returns. Then again, people have marched in the streets making the same demand and got the same response.