Here is a variation on an application that involves mailing physical letters. It reconciles two salient facts:
1) people love to complain and be activists, but are also lazy and would rather click a button on the web than lick an envelope
2) most businesses respond better to a printed complaint than a digital one.
Anyone can start a petition. e.g. "You, the cafe at the corner of Fifth and Main, charge too much for their coffee and we would probably come their more if it cost $.25 less." You provide the address of the recipient: Expensive Coffeeshop, Fifth and Main, Smallville, NY
The application is integrated to facebook, so each time someone signs the petition it is posted to their wall for people to see. Once a critical mass of signatures has been reached, and the numbers of signees starts to level off, the petition is printed and automatically mailed.
Companies respond to lots of printed letters. One letter with a thousand [forged] names on it is no different than one letter: the return address gets a coupon for a free coffee.
1) people love to complain and be activists, but are also lazy and would rather click a button on the web than lick an envelope
2) most businesses respond better to a printed complaint than a digital one.
Anyone can start a petition. e.g. "You, the cafe at the corner of Fifth and Main, charge too much for their coffee and we would probably come their more if it cost $.25 less." You provide the address of the recipient: Expensive Coffeeshop, Fifth and Main, Smallville, NY
The application is integrated to facebook, so each time someone signs the petition it is posted to their wall for people to see. Once a critical mass of signatures has been reached, and the numbers of signees starts to level off, the petition is printed and automatically mailed.
(I have copied this idea onto idea-ne.ws: http://idea-ne.ws/item?id=155)