A while back I used to love reading humour site Cracked because for the hilarious "Top 10" lists they came up with. At the time it was a relatively unique concept (for the web), but a few months later I realized every post they did was a list, and by then it was so formulaic that all the humour and enjoyment were sucked right out of reading them.

Skip ahead to present day, where I can't open my RSS feed without seeing at least one "5 ways to..." article a day. It's enough to drive a sane man crazy (note to self, write a 5 things that make me crazy blog post).

So in honour of this horse that has been beaten to death, resurrected and beaten again, here are 5 reasons to put these lists away for a while.

1. They're so played out - I defy you to go one day without seeing an blog post titled top 5 reasons your not doing something right or 10 ways to super charge your "blank". Sure It's a fast way to disseminate information, but can't we find a new way. I recently read an interview with (rapper) Jay-Z where he talked about how the auto-tune effect is so widely used (and abused) that it's now become a parody. The same thing applies here, the trend is now just a gimmick and it's not moving things forward so let's put it to bed.
2. But it's all I have time for, Part1 (The Reader) - Are we so incapable of reading full sentences, paragraphs and long form thoughts that this is the only way to get our information? It's basically the fast food of communications - not very stimulating and low on personality.
3. But it's all I have time for, Part 2 (The Writer) - Numbered lists are the drive-by shooting of blogging. From a bloggers point of view, it's great. Quick and easy to put together with little construction other than numbering your paragraphs. You bold the first few words to give the illusion of a well thought-out title and presto...you're a blogging genius (just like everybody else - way to stand out from the crowd). They also carry the added bonus of not forcing you as a writer to submit an opinion.
4. You're better than that - or maybe you're not, I don't know. But if you're a dedicated blogger, and someone who really and truly enjoys crafting words or putting together topical pieces that will have people commenting, this is below you. Then again, maybe you've made a reputation on posts like this which is fine. Sometimes people want a little fast-food in their diets to break it up.
5. Padded for length - ever notice that by the end of some of these lists you're struggling to find a connection between how #8 on the list will make you a better blogger? It's pretty clear that some of these lists would be better as one cohesive post instead of 10 items where the last 3 have a pretty tenuous connection to the main theme. One might argue this 5th item falls into that category.

So there you have it. Write less lists and aim for more comprehensive posts to initiate discussion. Thoughts?