Why List Posts Work

/by

What’s so special with list posts? Why do millions of people love it? There’s no limit on what you can put on a list post. It’s one of the reasons why many people find it an interesting read. A list post can be anything under the sun. It could be about dogs, fashion, music, food, life tips. Heck, you could even do a list post about a list post like this blog post for example.

A Woman Writing on a Paper

Let’s define first a list post. Basically, it is an article composed in a list format. According to a survey, people favor posts with infographics, and next to that, they prefer list posts. Various web visitors voted for blog posts with images and with lists. Honestly, I’m not even surprised that the list post bagged the 2nd spot. I’ve seen numerous lists post go viral!

Why is it such a popular trend?

It’s what our brains desire. With the millions of information the brain manages every day, it wants to simplify things. After analyzing a bunch of useful (and useless) data, it gets tiring to try to grasp everything we read, see, hear, and feel. The brain wants to acquire knowledge in a painless and straightforward way. Spending a lot of energy decoding every bit of info is a waste of time and effort.

To put it simply, list posts are loved by many because:

  • it gets the attention of the readers.
  • handy for people on the go.
  • it offers a plain and simple explanation.
  • it’s not jam-packed; just direct to the point.

Did you know that a Mashable article got shared on social media for more than 1,100 times? It all happened in the first 7 hours. Wow, that’s proves the immense power of a list post!

5 reasons why people go for list posts:

  • For one, it is helpful when you are trying to discuss about complicated topics. You can simplify things by listing your main points. This is useful when you are blogging about a topic you are knowledgeable about. You can educate mere mortals about a difficult topic.
  • It can be personal. The list post really depends on the writer. You can share about movie recommendations. You can even compile a list of life lessons you learned throughout your existence. The possibilities are endless; you’ll never know who you’ll inspire by sharing a bit of yourself.
  • List posts are NOT an eyesore. It is very easy to read. You will do your readers a huge favor of not going through blocks of texts.  A wordy paragraph will scare away your audience. So, they will be happy that you cut down the flowery words for them.
  • You can do other things while reading a list post. It’s not heavy that the post will need 100% of your attention. You can freely browse the internet while scanning through a list post. It is not something that demands too much effort from the readers.
  • Both the reader and the writer will benefit from it. The reader gets a list post that’s comprehensible while the writer won’t have to formulate something complicated. There’s no need for intricate details. The use of simple sentences and phrases are totally acceptable.