I won’t lie to you. I initially started writing this as a joke (“a numbered list about numbered lists? How meta! This will be hilarious!”). But the more I thought about it, the more I realized there was more to this. Nowadays you can’t go online without running into a blog post in this format. Hell, Buzzfeed built an entire business model on it. So why have numbered lists become such an internet standard? Well hey, here’s a numbered list to explain just that!
1. They make content snackable
According to Glenn Engler, snackable content is bite-sized content that is more digestible and generates engagement. These lists certainly fit the bill. It’s an easy way to make each point brief, concise and snappy. After all, this is the age where we get our points across in 140 words or under on Twitter. Quick little bites are easier to read and less daunting than a giant wall of text.
2. They’re browsable
You can read just the title of each section and get all the information you need. You don’t even need to be reading this part to get the point. So why are you? Stop!
3. They compartmentalize
Remember in high school, when studying involved breaking out important information from your text books and formatting it into simplified outlines? Well, these lists are just like those outlines (except someone else did it for you, and you’re spared the trouble of hunching over your text book for hours). Breaking out each point makes it much easier to digest the information, and therefore much easier to remember.
4. They help gauge length
Let’s say you’re browsing your Facebook newsfeed, and you come across an interesting article your friend has posted. “Hmm,” you might say to yourself “this article on slug training methods looks pretty interesting. But how long is it?” Before taking the plunge and clicking on a link, you want a good idea of what you’ll find on the other end. Like I said earlier, brevity is valued online, and a numbered list gives you a good idea about the length of the article and how much you’ll need to read. Because as fascinating as slug training methods are (or so I assume) reading 10,000 words as opposed to 200 words can be a deal breaker.
5. They give you the most vital info
Let’s say you want to learn how to build a canoe. There’s certainly a lot of important information that you’d need to learn. In your pursuit of canoe-building knowledge, you could read an article called “How to Build a Canoe”. Or you could read one titled “8 Things you Need to Know When Building a Canoe”. The latter implies that the author searched the vast sea of information on canoe building and fished out the most important facts. That makes it easier to learn, easier to understand and easier to take action.
Leave a Reply