Clarkson redux

In most cases, this digital 'gathering' is only metaphorical; it provides an illusion of reliable human contact where no real depth of relationship exists. The exception to this might be when some form of flash-mobbing results – that is, where the cyber-tribe is transformed into a real-tribe.

If people come together in physical space to reinforce their support for an online protest, the impact is going to be greatly enhanced – for them as individuals and for the campaign they're waging.

Whether or not there is a physical event attached to a digital protest, the promise of connection, even if only in cyberspace, is attractive.

Petitioning also feeds into our desire to be more than consumers. Studies suggest that the recent recession led many of us to re-think our core values, especially when it comes to concepts like private ownership and altruism.

The sharing economy has experienced sharp growth in recent years, because of both rapid urbanisation and this re-thinking of priorities. In major urban centres, it is not unusual to be able to share ownership of everything from bicycles – for example, Boris bikes – to motor scooters, cars, apartments and rooms with apartments.

Altruistic activity also grew during the recession. In 2009, at the height of the financial crisis, Britain's Red Nose Charity raised a record amount for worthy causes. Why? Because when material security begins to slide in a community, moral altruism reaches for the sky.

In times of sudden, relative need, people cannot define themselves by their jobs, mortgages or savings accounts. These things are recognised as transient. People then seek out other ways to define themselves and to declare their values to the world. Altruistic activities are a part of this.

Once the worst of the recession was over, some of the support for charities slipped away, but many people wanted to retain some of their new-found taste for micro-activism, often combining it with consumer activities. Buying a free-trade cup of coffee is a form of micro-activism. A small consumer purchase is seen to be enhanced and even ennobled by the fact that it also supports the common good, somewhere in the world.

Petitions are often seen as a form of micro-activism, where individuals make a small commitment to what potentially becomes a very large collective enterprise.

Micro-volunteering is another expression of the same ethic. Google's reCaptcha project is a great example of the potential of micro-volunteering. Among other things, it digitises analogue books one letter at a time.

Every time we are asked to type a string of distorted text when completing an online form, we take part in reCaptcha. In typing the letters, we each join the 750 million people globally who are helping to digitise 100 millions words per day and 2.5 million books annually.

There's a flip side to the micro-volunteer and micro-activism coin, though. Some people will feel that having signed a petition they've made a bigger contribution to a cause than they actually have.

In reality, petitions are a form of activism-light. If you're really serious about supporting a particular change, you'll probably feel you want to get involved in some more rubber-hits-the-road way, perhaps by joining or regularly supporting a campaign group.

As the Top Gear protest reflects, petitions may be useful but even the most well supported are not guaranteed of success. This may be in part because there are just so many petitions going around.

Or it might just be that Jeremy Clarkson was right: once whales, the ruling elites of the seas, make up their minds to feast, they pay scant attention to noisy protests from plankton.