You might have noticed: Lists are quite popular in the blogosphere. You might even read a blog in list form, without even realizing it. Indeed, the web abounds with advice and instruction and opinion, all in the form of lists. There are reasons for this. And I might just have to put those reasons into a list.
1. Lists are easy to consume.
There's something nice about reading a document in which each section has been neatly labeled. You know what you're going to get. In this paragraph, for instance, you can be fairly certain I'm not going to talk about my do and about the weather here in Winchester. No. I'm going to tell you how easy it is to read articles in the form of lists, precisely because they are organized in a way that lets the eye scan over each item in bold so that the brain then knows what the content will contain. Easy to digest.
2. Lists are share-able, aka "Clickbait."
"Clickbait" is the derogatory word for articles that essentially try to bait readers into clicking on them. Most websites measure their traffic and use these measurements to entice advertisers. Thus every click is a potential for the site to make money. Not all lists are clickbait, of course. Clickbait typically refers to the kinds of hysterical lists you see on some sites, like "Ten Foods That Are Secretly Poisoning You!" or "Five Things Your Children Need to Know Now!" The combination of the hysterical tone and the list form lead to lots of clicks on articles like this.
Still, people do love to share lists, and that does lead to website traffic and site clicks. If you have an idea for a blog piece, it's not necessarily a bad idea to think about how you might format the idea into a kind of list. This can only boost readership and possible shares (on social media).
3. Lists help readers process information.
According to Newstex, "Research published in the Journal of Consumer Research, The Top-Ten Effect: Consumers’ Subjective Categorization of Ranked Lists, sheds some light on why lists are so popular...'The top-ten effect that we demonstrate in these studies is based on the mental tendencies to use categories and to exaggerate the differences between them. These tendencies are part of the natural human readiness to perceive the world in terms of discrete things.'...The study also found that by categorizing, audiences also 'chunk' information. It can be assumed that chunking enables them to better digest content in smaller pieces."
4. Lists help us decide what to read online.
In "Five Reasons Why Millenials Love Listicles," Stephanie Denning of Forbes argues, "We’re overwhelmed by a fire-hose of information coming at us and that includes, let’s face it, a lot of bad writing. Sure, there’s a lot of good writing out there, but we have to wade through a lot of online goo to get to the nuggets of wisdom. The popularity of listicles reflects a more profound reality that we need a way to filter and process the information being thrown at us. Listicles can help us do that."
5. Lists help us gather a wealth of information.
Denning also points out, "Ultimately the most powerful kind of knowledge base is a set of T-shaped expertise. We want to have knowledge broad enough to span different disciplines, but also deep enough within one specialization to be considered an expert. The listicle is great for accumulating a breadth of knowledge. It allows us to scan through the material to gauge whether we find it interesting and whether we care to dive deeper."
6. Lists enable us to gather information quickly.
In "In Defense of Listicles," Devin Largent writes, "Lists offer appeal to our brains simply because they take care of the “mental heavy lifting” for us. Listicles, while also rife with 'clickbait,' clearly state in their titles that which they attempt to prove. The title “Ten Fascinating Facts about Ferrets” removes any sort of mystery that might be involved. Your brain is able to process and conceptualize the gist of the article before you actually begin to read...Once you click on a listicle and begin to read, you’re more often than not underwhelmed by its intellectual capacity. But this is part of the reason we digest them with great fervor. When an article is written in list form, we are able to process the tenets of said article immediately because they are listed numerically. In a typical essay, you cannot scroll down the page and immediately understand all the tenets of an argument or each individual piece of information the article offers. But when in list form, a simple scroll through the numbers reveals what the author really wants you to know, though not in-depth. It is an inch deep and mile wide approach."
7. Lists are entertaining.
Largent continues, "Most listicles are not thought-provoking. But is that really what we expect from them? Do we read a listicle to gain a deeper understanding of the world around us? Do we call upon them in order to live the “contemplative life” that Aristotle dreamed? Listicles are predominantly used for entertainment, much like sitcoms, most films, and sadly most books."
8. Lists help us remember information.
In "A List of Reasons Why Our Brains Love Lists," Maria Konnikova of The New Yorker writes, "[L]ists tap into our preferred way of receiving and organizing information at a subconscious level; from an information-processing standpoint, they often hit our attentional sweet spot. When we process information, we do so spatially. For instance, it’s hard to memorize through brute force the groceries we need to buy. It’s easier to remember everything if we write it down in bulleted, or numbered, points. Then, even if we forget the paper at home, it is easier for us to recall what was on it because we can think back to the location of the words themselves."
9. Lists make us feel good.
Konnikova goes on, "In 2011, the psychologists Claude Messner and Michaela Wänke investigated what, if anything, could alleviate the so-called “paradox of choice”—the phenomenon that the more information and options we have, the worse we feel. They concluded that we feel better when the amount of conscious work we have to do in order to process something is reduced; the faster we decide on something, whether it’s what we’re going to eat or what we’re going to read, the happier we become. Within the context of a Web page or Facebook stream, with their many choices, a list is the easy pick, in part because it promises a definite ending: we think we know what we’re in for, and the certainty is both alluring and reassuring. The more we know about something—including precisely how much time it will consume—the greater the chance we will commit to it. The process is self-reinforcing: we recall with pleasure that we were able to complete the task (of reading the article) instead of leaving it undone and that satisfaction, in turn, makes us more likely to click on lists again—even ones we hate-read."
So, there you have it. While the list might not be considered "high journalism," it is immensely popular and poised to stay that way. Our brains love lists. If you can craft your ideas into a list, you are well on your way to cultivating a good blogging practice.
There are, of course, many kinds of lists you can write. Your list could be instructive ("10 Ways to Fight the Common Cold") or humorous ("5 Fights I Will Have With My Husband Before Breakfast.") As with all blogs, your list can be derived from your own personal experience and meant to relate a story or it can be a guide to readers interested in the topic of your expertise or any number of things you choose to write about.
In this week's reading, we will look at a variety of lists. You will then write your own!
For this week, please write your own "listicle!" As you saw in the readings, the lists can be informational or they can draw from personal experience. Your list can include five items or fifty. Have fun with this assignment, and make sure you include a great title for your piece.
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