Since the advent of the digital age – the Internet, to be specific – it’s become increasingly easier for fans to voice their opinions, express their love (or lack thereof), and even connect with the stars, writers and directors of their favorite media. Are you an avid Batman reader with a passion for drawing? You can share your Batman fan art with the world through sites such as Tumblr or DeviantArt. Did you think last night’s episode of Arrow was the best one yet? You can send a Tweet to Stephen Amell to tell him, and chances are, he’ll get an alert directly on his cell phone to let him know.

Therein lies a problem, though. The streamlined manner in which fandoms can project their opinions, questions and desires directly to “those in charge” has created a false sense of entitlement, unlike anything that’s ever existed before. As such, many fans have resorted to creating petitions on free and easy-to-use platforms such as Change.org as a means of quickly rounding up thousands of like-minded individuals to support their cause, be it altruistic or unrealistic.

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Let’s look back at some of the recent fan petitions to make headlines.

When Justice League failed to live up to expectations, both critically and financially, many fans assumed it was due to Joss Whedon, who was brought on to oversee a series of extensive reshoots after director Zack Snyder stepped down due to a family tragedy. That being said, it didn’t take long for an online petition to surface, with fans demanding that Warner Bros. release a Zack Snyder director’s cut of the film, which – depending on who you ask – may or may not even exist. Plus, even if it does exist, it’s still possible that it’s merely a rough cut, far removed from the level of quality any studio would deem acceptable to release in theaters. (Then again, look at Henry Cavill’s mustache.)

Still, despite garnering well over 100k signatures, we now know that the digital and Blu-ray release will include several deleted scenes, but no “Zack Snyder Extended Ultimate Director’s Cut.”

Another petition to attract a lot of attention lately actually called for Walt Disney to remove The Last Jedi from official Star Wars canon in light of the negative fan response to many of writer/director Rian Johnson’s creative decisions. The creator of the petition even went as far as to request that Disney and Lucasfilm “push back Episode IX and re-make Episode VIII properly to redeem Luke Skywalker's legacy, integrity, and character.”

Why don’t we let that sink in for a moment?

Nearly 100k fans signed a petition demanding a major movie studio remake an entire $150 million-budget film and delay progress on the next one – a decision that would cost Disney hundreds of millions of dollars – just because they didn’t like it.

That’s not to take away from any of the actual, valid criticisms buried within the petition. These fans were legitimately disappointed because, for many of them, Star Wars has been a part of their lives for 40 years, so to see the franchise go in a direction they don’t like is understandably upsetting. But whatever happened to just admitting that you don’t like something and then moving on? When did fans go from saying, “That wasn’t really for me,” to launching petty petitions, such as a subsequent one in which fans are demanding Rian Johnson admit The Last Jedi is awful?

Narrow-minded as that last one may be, it’s hardly the most egregious.

RELATED: Outraged Fans Launch Petition to Cut Matt Damon’s Ocean’s 8 Cameo

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The recent midseason finale of AMC’s flagship zombie series The Walking Dead shocked fans when the teenage Carl Grimes was bitten by a walker, which is effectively a death sentence in the show’s post-apocalyptic world. This was a sharp departure from the character’s fate in the comics, and when actor Chandler Riggs’ father unloaded on AMC for “[firing his] son 2 weeks before his 18th birthday after telling him they wanted him for the next 3 years,” yet another fan petition reared its ugly head online. It wasn’t calling for the network to bring Carl back, though – it was calling for AMC to instead fire series showrunner Scott Gimple.

While the nearly 100k fans who signed this petition believe that Riggs was treated unfairly based on a social media post by an angry dad, who was profiting off of his son’s success through a business called “Chandler Riggs’ Dad’s Zombie Roadtrip Riggs’ Tours & Autographs,” none of us really know what was going on behind-the-scenes or in the writer's room. When it comes to TV and movies, creative directions can change on a whim – that’s the nature of the business. Riggs surely knew this, and if he didn’t, the lawyers who looked over his contract before he signed it certainly did. That fans’ response to a decision they didn’t like was to call for another man to lose his job is a level of entitlement that completely transcends reason.

How do we fix it, though? And better yet, can and should it be fixed?

Petitions, themselves, are a cornerstone of the First Amendment, and even in fandom, there are occasions where they have their place. Petitions and social media campaigns are excellent platforms to allow Hollywood to gauge interest in everything from potential casting decisions to increased diversity and inclusion to even fan-favorite Awards-season contenders.

Perhaps, then, it’s up to the fan community to make a conscious and introspective effort to decide whether or not their cause might further fuel the flames of the “toxic fandom” stigma before jumping on Change.org. Perhaps they should consider whether or not their cause comes from a place of righteousness or self-righteousness.

RELATED: Fans Petition Warner Bros. to Make Wonder Woman Bisexual

Admittedly, it’s a big ask, especially considering the very word “fan” is derived from the word “fanatic,” but surely fans would appreciate having their concerns taken seriously, rather than used as the source of article upon article in which media outlets point of their sheer ludicrousness. Then again, maybe some of them subscribe to the idea that all press is good press, but is there really anything good about being rightfully labeled an “angry fanboy?”