Launched in 2007, Change.org is a website that provides a free online platform for anyone to launch a petition that can be read and signed by people all over the world.
The mission of Change.org is to “empower people everywhere to create the change they want to see.”
Topics tend to cover the broad spectrum of social justice and human rights; the environment and health concerns; and education and the welfare of animals.
Aside from addressing broad, sweeping issues, such as raising awareness to prosecute the killer of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, Change.org occasionally has fun petitions, like the one that wanted to stop the Algonquin Hotel in New York City from eliminating the legendary Oak Room in its recent renovation.
The outcry supporting the petition to prosecute the killer of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin received more than 2.2 million signatures, which was, at that time, the largest number of signatures for any campaign in Change.org’s history. It is likely that the swell of public opinion did produce an outcome that resulted in the prosecution of George Zimmerman, and the continued effort to change state and local laws in order to defuse future violent confrontations.
The petition to save the Algonquin’s Oak Room didn’t fare nearly as well, and the venerable lounge is indeed gone, along with a small coterie of regular cabaret entertainers.
In another high-profile case, Eric Haywood, a student of Arizona State University, launched a petition against the university, protesting rising tuition costs at the school. ASU responded by blocking Change.org as a spam site and made it inaccessible from their network.
The university’s action invited sharp response from the public, which included Internet Campaign Director Josh Levy of the Free Press, stating “disabling access to any lawful site violates the spirit and principles of net neutrality, chills academic freedom and possibly rises to the level of a First Amendment violation.”
While anyone can draft and launch a petition that can be heard around the world, it’s not a popularity contest or a place to take petty grievances.
Change.org is an effective way to court the highest law of the land — public opinion — to make a difference and to right a wrong. For more info see change.org.
For seven years, a simple website has encouraged people to ‘create the change they want to see’
By Patricia Vaccarino