Online petitions are more effective than pen and paper petitions because they are easy to create and easy to access and share.

According to online petition site Change.org, “When hundreds or even thousands of people raise their voices about an issue they care about, the message is very hard to ignore.”

Many people avoid paper petitions because they involve time commitment. People don’t like to have to set aside time to fill out a paper petition – especially if they don’t feel passionate about the topic.

The government and companies can spread awareness about issues they support through online petitions. Citizens are more likely to respond because they can do so without too much hassle.

Online petitions work because people’s reaction times to voice their ideas is a lot faster when they have the ability to do so right on the internet.

Many online platforms, namely the White House website and Change.org have increasingly received successful petitions that are supported by the public and put into action.

White House petitions have led to: Clean air policies that reduce asthma attacks, political support for expanding literacy programs and a review of the environmental impact of the Keystone XL pipeline.

Despite technical setbacks, the White House petition site has led to more people voicing their thoughts about the government, according to the White House website.

The government’s online petition platform had to change the number of signatures required from 25,000 to 100,000 to accommodate for the thousands of people that have begun to use online petitions, according to NBC News.

The increasing number of petitions and users has forced the platform to branch out into “councils” that regulate petitions that fall under certain topics, such as the national economy and domestic policy.

The successes have encouraged many other citizens to participate in petition making and signing as a way of voicing their opinion.