List Lust

It’s a brand new year! 2010 is still spanking new despite the bubble wrap being ripped off. One week is a long time though for most people to forget the spirit a new beginning brings with it. Now if you are wondering what this is all about, I’ll dilly-dally no more. It’s about lists and the lust we all display for lists today. Look around you. From Facebook status messages to Twitter updates all you will see are flashing tiny URLs with headlines like “7 Ways to ..” or “Top 10 Methods ..” and “3 Sure-shot ..” List posts are everywhere. They work! Why? Simply because of the power of attention grabbing headlines which summarize the entire post in less than 10 words. But that’s not all. Allow me the liberty of listing out the top 3 reasons why a list post rocks or sucks!1. Speed: The need for speed is a bug that has spread like a virus all over the world. People are too busy to read every word and lists enable the reader to grab as much information as possible even from RSS readers. Short, simple and bang on target, lists waste no time or make any attempts to reach out to the reader. On the flip-side, how would you like to eat a meal with only appetizers and no main course? There is a reason literary skills rank so high and books are made into movies and not the other way round.

2. Utility: Resources are easier to digest when listed out in bullet or numbered points. Such references are easily categorized and bookmarked for later use. Makes organization a lot easier but like Albert Einstein once said “Imagination is more important than knowledge.” It is in my opinion a bonafide obsessive compulsive disorder to collect data in today’s information age. How many of those quick tutorials that you bookmark ever been applied in your real life work/play scenario?

To summarize, it’s a choice a reader must make. What can a list possibly do for me that a well-crafted and carefully thought of blog post not do? or vice-versa. Lists appear to simplify processes especially when they are numbered as you have a countdown to completion. Things are always easier to determine and follow with the help of sequentially arranged information. But then the fun of deciphering the clues sprinkled along an article is lost when you speed read and spit out what you just digested in a flash. So would you care for fast food takeout or glorious gourmet?