10 Lists of Reasons People Like Lists

My earlier rant about content aggregation got me thinking about the whole phenomenon of listing in the first place, and how I find it useful but annoying if done carelessly or incorrectly. So I started joking that “I bet I can find a list of lists of reasons why people like lists,” and then proceeded to do it. The following 10 links contain lists (mostly in list form, some in essay form) of reasons that people like lists and why we “should” use lists (mostly, I think people like making lists because it’s easier to make a list of things than it is to actually make a thing).:P Just in case anyone cares. And for the record, I don’t really intend to make another “list” post any time soon. 😛

1. Top five reasons why people like to share top ten lists
2. Why Do We Care About Top 10 Lists?
3. 7 Reasons Why List Posts Will Always Work
4. The Top 4 Reasons Why People Like Lists
5. 5 Reasons Why People like Blog Posts with Lists
6. Quora – Why do people like “Top N” (e.g. “Top 10”) lists so much?
7. Why do people like lists so much?
8. 5 reasons people like lists
9. So, You Like Lists?
10. People Like Lists. So Use Them.

On a less tongue-in-cheek note, this interview with Umberto Eco discusses his take on why people like lists so much: “We like lists because we don’t want to die.” Interesting reading. And on the subject of meta-posting, the xkcd cartoon “Hofstadter” is about how I’m feeling right now. Ugh. I promise to write something original next time.:)