Every once in a while, I get one of those email petitions, telling me I need to add my name and address to the list and pass the email around so that National Public Radio will not be forced to be shut down, or something similar. The petitions state than every 100th signatory should forward the email to SomeGuy@TheUSCongress.gov, to show all the names that have been collected.
Now first, let’s think about that last statement. Let’s say Person 99 “signs” the petition and passes it on to 15 friends — everyone in his address book. Let’s say 9 of his friends just ignore and delete the email, but the other 6 care very deeply for NPR. You now have 6 peope who would be the 100th signatory on their own list. But guess what? There’s actually ten Person 99’s because Person 98 sent it out to everyone in his address book. Now if each of those Person 99’s sent the letter to 15 friends, 6 of whom follow the instructions, you’ve got yourself 60 different Person 100’s emailing SomePoorGuy@TheUSCongress.gov, each with an IDENTICAL list up to Person 98.
If you keep going backwards, you can figure out the math yourself to determine the number of Person 100’s there would really be if everyone responded to these petitions.
Does a flood of mostly identical emails change a Congressperson’s vote? No, the members of Congress and smart, and they do exactly what you should do: DELETE.
