Fun

5 Reasons I’m Rebelling Against List Posts

Original article contributed by: Sean Malseed
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1. I hate them

I see them freaking everywhere. They’re all over everyone’s social media, plastered on every website, and beaten into the ground by every Buzzfeed clone out there. Over-saturation. I immediately tune them out and I can’t be the only one.

2. I hate them

Whenever a momentary lapse of judgement suckers me into reading a list post, I always leave after the first or second point – and I always leave disappointed. “5 tips on being a better speaker” sounds like something that could be really useful, but at this point I’m pretty much trained to not expect any real tips out of any article that begins with a number. Take this list you’re reading right now. There are no real points. It’s just a disjointed rant against list posts disguised as a list to fill up content space. I could have just put “I hate list posts because they are overused” in an H1 tag with nothing else, and you’d have gotten the same information that you’ll get when you’re finished reading this whole polemic.

3. I hate that I hate them

I especially hate that there’s still a few good ones, which have real points and tips laid out in a logical list for easy consumption. Why do I hate the good ones? Because they’re so damn hard to find now. Every time I click on a list that looks interesting and wind up on a slideshow, all I hear in my head is “GOTCHA!” It’s just a list of points that have had no thought put into any of them, trying to lure me to click through and increase their pageviews and time on site with a sort of sunk cost fallacy.

4. I hate them

Seriously, I hate every one I see and I kind of hate myself for writing this one even though I’m mocking them.

5. I hate them but no one’s going to stop using them until they stop WORKING 🙁

But here, I made an infographic that might help spread the word. Please don’t actually share it, because it’s stupid.

1 comment

Arjun Sandhu 16 September 2015 - 12:29 pm
Haha! Perfect example! Leaving a few here and there, most lists are just plain useless. My wife was telling me about this really cool list about top 10 reasons why you should live in foreign countries (pun intended) (when you come from India). The first reason was "you will learn how to cook yourself". Second reason - "you learn how to wash your own clothes". 3rd "you will learn to do your own grocery". We get the point! (context being that in India, most people have maids and they do all the work). Anyway, I'm a fan of your work and with these bookmarks, I'll be returning to your site soon.
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