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7 Things I Hate About List Posts!

Author: Tom Category: Blogging
6 Comments

Why I hate list posts

1. They Insult The Intelligence Of My Readers
I mean seriously, are your readers 6 years old? I know people say that list posts are popular because people don’t have enough time to read a full post, but maybe if your posts were unique and entertaining, while being informative your readers wouldn’t get distracted. What list posts say to me, is that you think your readers can only read in 1-2 sentence blogs – please don’t insult their intelligence!

2. My Writing Skills Have Little Impact On The Posts Popularity
Ok. I have an ego problem – who doesn’t? I want to think that the reason my blog and it’s individual posts are popular and successful are a direct result of how entertaining I am or because I wowed my readers with my out of this world wisdom. But I can’t do that with lists.

3. It’s Just Compiling – Only Skill I Need Is Googling!
Following on about my ego. This point really bugs me. Lists are just a compilation of things that a blogger has found by searching on the internet while thinking ‘Reckon people would Digg this?’ or ‘I wonder whether this will get people stumbling me?’ The only skill you need is to be able to google.

4. Everyone Is Doing Them
I like to think I’m on the forefront with my blogging, doing the things that no one else has thought of. Hitting the thoughts that no one has dreamed of. But I can’t do that by writing lists. Everyone is doing them. They are the norm. Not me, I’m different. I don’t have to follow the crowd!

5. Everyone Was Doing Them Before Me
I didn’t think of doing them, so it mustn’t be a good idea. Right? I mean everyone is just followers, they see one or two big name bloggers doing them and suddenly it’s all the rave. I think the fact that everyone started doing them before me is a sure sign that there is no value in them, so why is everyone still doing them? It’s got nothing to do with me being stubborn.

6. Everyone Loves Them
And whats the go? It seems like whenever everyone talks about the best way to write a blog post, that the first answer is alway, ‘Do list posts! Everyone loves them!’ I mean seriously, does everyone really love them or is it just an easy way out of putting actual effort into your posts?

7. The Fact That Even Though I Hate Them I Can’t Help Being Drawn To Them!
And when all is said and done the thing I hate most about list posts is the fact that even though I have listed 6 reason why I hate them, I can’t help but be drawn to them. I see how successful they are – if done right. And if I look back at my complaints I can see if I look at the thoughts they could also be taken as positives.

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6 Comments

  1. bloggingzoom.com said on  May 21st, 2008 at 1:08 am

    7 Things I Hate About List Posts! : Stand Out Blogger…

    1. They Insult The Intelligence Of My Readers
    I mean seriously, are your readers 6 years old? I know people say that list posts are popular because people don’t have enough time to read a full post, but maybe if your posts were unique and entertainin…

  2. whydowork said on  May 21st, 2008 at 10:49 am

    I think there are *some* list posts that are useful. In this case you’ve made a list post with a list of 7 things you hate about list posts (and I liked it) :)

    I do agree that the linkbait one liners aren’t that helpful. Popular search engines are good enough that I don’t usually need a whole list for reference, the top few results usually do the trick.

  3. Melvin said on  May 22nd, 2008 at 9:57 am

    I dont like list post because they are mainstream.. ;-)

  4. Nathaniel said on  May 25th, 2008 at 8:20 am

    Aren’t you doing a list post now? If not then what is a list post? I do things like you with bolding something and then writing underneath, then repeating that. Mine is a bit different though.

  5. Tom said on  May 25th, 2008 at 8:47 am

    nathaniel: yes this is a list post. This post was kind of a dig at people who are set in their ways and not willing to try new methods of posting.

  6. Nick said on  May 31st, 2008 at 1:59 pm

    Lists posts can be useful, as can video, picture, and any other type of post you can think of. The trick is to vary your content so you’re not posting all of one type :)