4 ms·

The content-light format of "22 X that Y"[1][2][3], pioneered by Cracked and perfected by BuzzFeed, is infecting other sites, including once-reputable ones like

by andr 13y ago

The content-light format of "22 X that Y"[1][2][3], pioneered by Cracked and perfected by BuzzFeed, is infecting other sites, including once-reputable ones like Forbes[4], and indeed getting tons of eyeballs. I'm somewhat afraid next year's top article won't be much more than funny pictures off Google with witty captions. [1] http://www.buzzfeed.com/briangalindo/18-cartoons-from-the-90s-you-probably-forgot-existed http://www.buzzfeed.com/briangalindo/18-cartoons-from-the-90... [2] http://www.buzzfeed.com/tashweenali/gooey-desserts http://www.buzzfeed.com/tashweenali/gooey-desserts [3] http://www.buzzfeed.com/hunterschwarz/23-oddly-specific-netflix-categories-that-only-have-one-show http://www.buzzfeed.com/hunterschwarz/23-oddly-specific-netf... [4] http://www.forbes.com/sites/jacquelynsmith/2014/01/17/12-tips-for-overcoming-your-fear-of-change-at-work-2/ http://www.forbes.com/sites/jacquelynsmith/2014/01/17/12-tip...

vezzy-fnord 13y ago
Cracked pioneered the listicle? Really? Source?
- dictum 13y ago
  I can't confirm Cracked as the pioneers of the listicle, but ca. 2007 Digg was the altar[1] of listicles and Cracked was the leading source for most of them. [1] This has been beaten to death already, but the top subreddits definitely have a 2007-2009 Digg vibe.
corresation 13y ago
While Cracked are disciples of the church of lists, I wouldn't attribute the unfortunate trend to them: it has been a checkout line magazine mainstay for many, many years. "10 Food Ingredients That Will Tighten Your Tummy!" "6 Sex Tricks That Will Drive Him Wild!" "9 Common Household Items That Will Kill You!" I blame Digg v1.0 (now taken over by Reddit) for it becoming a common tactic online -- As the Digg front page was taken over by lists, that accessible format allowing for easy upvotes, it encouraged an invirtuous cycle of other sites desperately adopting it as traffic started becoming much more clustured, and "winner takes all" became more important. Sites had less success existing in their niche given that even their normal readers were spending most of their time with the herd, so if you can't beat them, make a list about how to join them.
mkessy 13y ago
It is absurd to even mention the New York Times in the same sentence as Cracked and BuzzFeed, suddenly if 100% of your articles aren't about "real" news then it is content "light." NY Times graphics, from an information design perspective are consistently the best of any major publication and this article was a good example of that.

by andr 13y ago

vezzy-fnord 13y ago

Cracked pioneered the listicle? Really? Source?

dictum 13y ago
I can't confirm Cracked as the pioneers of the listicle, but ca. 2007 Digg was the altar[1] of listicles and Cracked was the leading source for most of them. [1] This has been beaten to death already, but the top subreddits definitely have a 2007-2009 Digg vibe.

corresation 13y ago

While Cracked are disciples of the church of lists, I wouldn't attribute the unfortunate trend to them: it has been a checkout line magazine mainstay for many, many years. "10 Food Ingredients That Will Tighten Your Tummy!" "6 Sex Tricks That Will Drive Him Wild!" "9 Common Household Items That Will Kill You!" I blame Digg v1.0 (now taken over by Reddit) for it becoming a common tactic online -- As the Digg front page was taken over by lists, that accessible format allowing for easy upvotes, it encouraged an invirtuous cycle of other sites desperately adopting it as traffic started becoming much more clustured, and "winner takes all" became more important. Sites had less success existing in their niche given that even their normal readers were spending most of their time with the herd, so if you can't beat them, make a list about how to join them.

mkessy 13y ago

It is absurd to even mention the New York Times in the same sentence as Cracked and BuzzFeed, suddenly if 100% of your articles aren't about "real" news then it is content "light." NY Times graphics, from an information design perspective are consistently the best of any major publication and this article was a good example of that.