It seemed like a good idea at the start, but petitions.whitehouse.gov has degenerated into an entertainment web site. Frivolous, silly petitions like the recent "Dark Star" petition waste government resources.
Private commercial web sites could create petitions and submit them via email, saving the taxpayers thousands, perhaps millions of dollars, and generating non-governmental high-tech jobs in the process.
The Constitution does not require the executive branch to solicit or act upon petitions from the public. While it is amusing, we do not pay taxes to to be amused by our government. Entertainment is not the role of government in our society.