4 ms·
Newsflash: listicles are garbage. It doesn't need to be a list of myths; any article following the pattern "10 anythings about anything" is clickbait trash.
by caymanjim 7y ago
Newsflash: listicles are garbage. It doesn't need to be a list of myths; any article following the pattern "10 anythings about anything" is clickbait trash.
- lowdose 7y agoTitles with a number generate more clicks so everybody does it.
- elliekelly 7y agoThis is one of those things I try to google every once in a while but the results are so clogged with junk that I still don't really know the answer. Why are our brains drawn to click on headlines/titles with a number?
- lowdose 7y agoI don't know exactly and I wasn't able to find a reference either but I thought the increase was something like 30%. Maybe hubspot or buffer has a blog on it.
- jameshart 7y agoIt’s true. Odd numbers do better than even, as well.
- abricot 7y agoNumbers in title are a good indicator that the article is 1. Opinion based and that it 2. Lags detail. At least it's enough for me to know to avoid it when I'm searching for a solution to a problem.
- crooked-v 7y agoYou'll be shocked by these eleven ways that lists about things are terrible!
- mikekchar 7y agoAn article comprised of a list is a kind of promise to the reader that you are not going to have a complicated or nuanced argument. It's a list. The items will be clearly delineated and will probably only superficially refer back to themselves. I think this is why these lists are popular. They are easy to read and easy to digest. I don't think there is anything wrong, per se, with a list. It has the advantages I point out. The problem comes where you have a complicated and nuanced topic and distill it to a list. Because you have simplified the argument, it is usually one sided and deficient. That's why it is usually trash. It doesn't have to be, though, IMHO. Some things lend themselves well to being expressed as a list (for example, a list of potential alternative solutions to a problem).