The Top 10 Top 10s of gaming
Ever peruse the Gaming section of Digg.com? It’s a melange of opinions, rumors and news about video games. Fun to read. Have you noticed how many “Top 10″ articles submitted, and Digged in ridiculous numbers?
Dozens. And it’s usually some schlep spouting off about the superiority of old-school games, inconsequential stuff. I don’t mean to be cruel, but enough already with these “Top (insert number)” lists, no one cares. There’s a reason why there’s so many. It doesn’t apply in all cases, but in most.
Traffic. If you want to generate some blog traffic, write a Top 10 post. For some reason, people love Top 10 lists. When they see a link to one they just have to click it. In trying to figure out why this is so, I dug deep into my psyche and discovered that I, too, am more likely to click on a Top 10 link in favor of a normal news link. I accept that I am one of the mindless horde. But why??
Here are the Top 10 Reasons why you’re compelled to read a Top 10 list:
#1 - It’s easy to read, spelled out in compartmentalized chunks of text that are short enough to appease the short attention spans characteristic of gamers.
#2 - You want to see if the author is wrong. Compared to your vast knowledge, this person’s thoughts will almost certainly be dubious and worthless, and you’re always up for an ego boost.
Okay, so it’s only a Top 2 list. I could write eight more but they’d all derive from the first two, and unlike some bloggers, I strive not to bore my readers. That pretty much sums it up.
