List Countdown

Intro:
This is a post about lists and ten hopefully interesting personal feelings I have about lists.

10. If I see a list that is a countdown--especially with ten or less items in it--I feel extremely curious and am drawn into reading it.

9. If I see a post or article with a list in it--and the items on each list are two or less sentences--I tend to gravitate toward it, and am more likely to finish it.

8. However, if the items in the list are longer (say a paragraph or two) I am immediately turned off and am less likely than ever to read it.

7. If one of the items in the list has an eye catching word or phrase that I have personal interest in, I always want to see what it is saying. (these include names, book titles, and songs like,


JULIAN CASSABLANCAS 

ENDER'S GAME, 


DAN HAGEN, 

and

TETRIS HIGH SCORE!!

6. If there is a space between each item, I feel like it's more readable.

5. I always feel productive when I write lists, but I also feel productive when I read lists. It gives me a specific number of facts I have newly learned.

4. I think that newspaper or magazine article (and especially blogs) that are entirely in countdown list form are more widely read.

3. I tend to "take the writer's word for it" more when reading a list.

2. I've found list writing to be a destructive habit when it comes to listing things I want to do. I often (subconsciously) feel that, when a goal of mine is written down on paper, it'll just hop right off the page and go get itself done.

1. I feel satisfied when I reach the end of a list. I think everyone does.