I tend to be cynical myself, but if you look at the top petitions ( fairfuel UK in there with 145,000) they are getting attention. The top performers are an interesting cross section however. I don't know when the idea took off, but ultimately you can get attention if enough folk shout. Just a slow grind to what might not get a result, but no point bitching if you can't spend a minute of your time to support something worthwhile. It will mean Jack Shit to me at my age, but look at the 70 million campaign and start scribbling; I have.