While reading through the posted petitions, I've noticed that not enough people take it seriously. I've seen demands for thousands of clams on birthdays, and other irrational wants that couldn't possibly be met. In this article, I will give you a few ideas to use to make your next petition successful, and let off some steam from seeing petitions like these mass produced.

Let's look at a few... (These are ACTUAL petitions that I found on June 8th, 2003. None of them have been changed in any way. I've withheld the screen names of the people for security and embarrassment reasons.)

"more games and a skate park bikes 4 sale 4 1 clam and free skate boards"

Free skateboards? Bikes for 1 clam? Really, if you actually think about it, you can't have free skateboards and bikes for 1 clam. The people who spend time making skateboards for Akbar's deserve the clams they get. If you can't afford it, you can wait until you save up enough. Free skateboards aren't rational, but a skate park is something that could actually happen. Before you type in your petition, you have to agree not to throw multiple ideas into a petition. That's what it seems was done here.

"we r not getting enough clams with r daily salary.I think we should have jobs that will pay us 35 clams an hour.also I think we should get free cludwhy membership only cards. we should have more games that will give us more clams."

If you have a problem with your salary, don't complain to City Hall. Everyone on Whyville already has a job -- that's what your salary is! And anyways, 35 clams an hour that would mean 840 clams a day, and 5880 clams a week. If that petition were to become true, no one would actually have to try anymore. Whyville would become a big black hole of beauty contests and "press 123 if u think im a hawtiee!" Also, like the first petition, this one has multiple ideas in it. It confuses people who want to vote for only one part of your petition. Free Club Why memberships would mean that nobody would have to work for anything anymore. I earned my membership by selling face parts and making my salary higher. That would be unfair to people who actually did work their way into the club. Most importantly, the spelling in this petition is horrible. Club Why wasn't even spelled correctly! Think of it as a project for school. Your teacher (your fellow citizens AND City Hall) will think better of it if it's typed and in proper format than if it were scribbled on wrinkled paper with scratch out marks.

"There are tonnes of 12 year olds on Whyville, and I am one of them. Right now I have to wait another two months or sign a permission form to chat. I don't think it's fair that we should have to sign permission forms, when there are 13 year olds less responsible than some of us on Whyville. If you think this is a good idea, then please, sign my petition."

Yes, there are tons of 12 year olds that are more responsible and considerate than some 13 year olds. I agree with this person fully, but there are laws that don't let children younger than the age of 13 sign up or participate on things online without your parents' permission. You can also think of it as a privilege. I'm 13, and I was ecstatic when I was finally able to sign up for things I've waited for. Also, if you've somehow forgotten, the internet is a dangerous place. You don't know who exactly you're talking to. Whyville has done a good job of educating Whyvillians on internet safety. The person who wrote this didn't check sources to back up their opinion, I think. That's very important to do. Nobody is going to vote for it if you just throw out an idea with no thought involved. Changing Whyville starts with suggestions that evolve from a thought, not just the original, basic idea itself!

The topic of internet safety brings me to my next 'victim':

"we shood have a dating service on Whyville! u cood fill out a form. ppl cood search for u through THEIR insterests. I pic wood b included. there shood also b a special place for couple to go, and another place to get married"

Filling out your personal information is very unsafe. Dating on the internet is very unsafe. It's okay if you actually know the person in real life, and have approved of them. But online, people can and do say whatever they want, and you can't tell if it's the truth or not. Giving our your information and a picture of yourself... hmm... doesn't that sound like match.com or one of those other matchmaking services that adults use? Whyville is a place to learn, be safe, and have fun, not a dating service! This person has a bad case of not thinking before typing, just as the other petitions I've critiqued. They're describing Whyville as a totally different website than what it is in reality. I almost find it insulting that a person could type this out and strongly believe that it could become true when Whyville has taught us not to give out any personal information like that.

"I think we should have a mall. The stores could have clothes and face parts on hangers and displays. We could walk around the mall and hangout. Inside the mall could be a place to eat and maybe an arcade."

First, I must give this person kudos for using punctuation and spelling correctly! As for the petition, that's a different story. This sounds like a big pit of things that we already have -- Akbar's, chatting places, and games. As for the eating part, why in the world would you need to eat on Whyville? That's another story. To have a good petition, you need to actually believe in the idea and think that it would make for a good change. This Whyvillian didn't take other changes that people have made into account before typing this up. In order to make a change, you need sources that would persuade someone into thinking the same way you do.


So after critiquing all of the above, to have a good petition, you need to make sure you do the following:

1) Get your point across. Come on strong and present your idea, and the reasons why it would make Whyville a better place. The point of these petitions is to persuade others to believe the way you do. Saying "my idea is (idea here). vote for it!" won't get you anywhere.

2) Only speak about one topic at a time. It's good to have many opinions, but in a petition you really only want to focus in on one. Think of as many reasons as you can to put in your petition so people will feel the way you do about the topic.

3) THINK BEFORE YOU TYPE. I can't stress that enough. If you don't think about your idea and all the things that could come about from it, there is no point in posting it. Make sure the idea you are about to post is rational. By rational I mean that it could actually happen. By could actually happen, I don't mean "give me 1,000,000,000 clams on my birthday!" and "Free skateboards for everyone!".

4) And possibly the most important rule, SPELL CORRECTLY AND USE PUNCTUATION. If your petition is to get more games on Whyville, people would take it more seriously if you type, "I believe that we should have more games on Whyville" and then state your reasons, than if you type "more gamez on Whyville r needed. Whyville iz borin w/out them!" and just press the submit button. It's all about presentation. Would you rather eat your favorite food presented to you on nice china plates, or on the lid of a garbage can? (That's from the Cosby Show... heh).

If there are still people reading at this point (I thank you!), I'd like to point out one of the few petitions that have come pretty close to following all the rules that I just set.

"Ok, I know at Akbar's there are those letters on the screen for you to click and see the face parts starting with those letters, but have you tried to find anything in there? It's hard! The letters themselves are not alphabatized. Say you're looking for blond hair. you dont want to have to search through the blue eyes, the brown braids, and the "be my valentine"s to find them, right? I think that each letter should be sorted and alphabatized to make our search for face parts easier. Please vote!! ~megmo"

Good job, megmo916. The idea was stated, opinions and examples were given, and why it would make for a better Whyville. Plus, she used pretty good spelling, grammar, and punctuation. *Applauds* You almost make me cry happy tears! Basically, she followed all of the rules I've suggested, and even threw in some creativity. I haven't seen any petition like this one yet. This idea doesn't seem irrational from my point of view, and I believe that plenty of thought was put into this petition.

This would be the end, and if you're still with me here, thanks for reading! I hope that you get out there and make better petitions with my suggestions that will make Whvyille even greater than it is now. The future of our online community relies on the residents' input. Putting in better quality petitions would make for a better quality Whyville.

Talk to you later,
xtw1st3d