Although it seems that the top list is a relatively new phenomenon, the first top ten showed up long before blogging or the Internet existed, like around 1450-1500 B.C. That’s the best guess as to the date when Moses descended Mt. Sinai with the stone tablets containing the original top 10 list, the Ten Commandments. After Moses had received the two tablets he promptly smashed them, thereby making the first top 5 list but that is a story for another day.
Scientists have recently discovered a recessive gene that make some bloggers more predisposed to creating top 5 and 10 lists than the general population. This helps explain some of the abuses with top 5 and top 10 lists, but doesn’t fully answer the question as to why they are more popular than ever. It seems that there is a primal urge that some people have to let the world know what their top 10 main courses at Olive Garden are or their top 5 Molly Ringwald films. This urge leads to lists that are created just to be created, and in turn they become worthless commodities with short shelf lives.
If you really want to connect, don’t make a top 5 or 10 list, but tell me your thoughts as to why you like or dislike something. Let’s discuss, argue, and laugh about why you think the Rolling Stones are the greatest rock band ever or why I think Gayle Sayers is the greatest running back who ever lived. Or, if you really want to mix it up, how about throwing a top 8 list at me? Maybe you could only come up with the top 8 uses for pesto and found no need to add a 9th. That would impress me.
The bottom line is that nobody knows for sure what the top 5 or 10 or 20 is of anything so take all of these lists with a grain of salt. And if you can’t help yourself , and absolutely have to create a top whatever list, make sure it is tied to your values and core beliefs, and not what the crowd thinks. And please, tell me why – don’t just post a list.
But please, keep them to yourselves, because If I catch you taking the easy road and posting a top whatever list, I am going to post the top 5 reasons not to visit your site.
Connectsmith Uncovers The Original Top 10 List
Although it seems that the top list is a relatively new phenomenon, the first top ten showed up long before blogging or the Internet existed, like around 1450-1500 B.C. That’s the best guess as to the date when Moses descended Mt. Sinai with the stone tablets containing the original top 10 list, the Ten Commandments. After Moses had received the two tablets he promptly smashed them, thereby making the first top 5 list but that is a story for another day.
Scientists have recently discovered a recessive gene that make some bloggers more predisposed to creating top 5 and 10 lists than the general population. This helps explain some of the abuses with top 5 and top 10 lists, but doesn’t fully answer the question as to why they are more popular than ever. It seems that there is a primal urge that some people have to let the world know what their top 10 main courses at Olive Garden are or their top 5 Molly Ringwald films. This urge leads to lists that are created just to be created, and in turn they become worthless commodities with short shelf lives.
If you really want to connect, don’t make a top 5 or 10 list, but tell me your thoughts as to why you like or dislike something. Let’s discuss, argue, and laugh about why you think the Rolling Stones are the greatest rock band ever or why I think Gayle Sayers is the greatest running back who ever lived. Or, if you really want to mix it up, how about throwing a top 8 list at me? Maybe you could only come up with the top 8 uses for pesto and found no need to add a 9th. That would impress me.
The bottom line is that nobody knows for sure what the top 5 or 10 or 20 is of anything so take all of these lists with a grain of salt. And if you can’t help yourself , and absolutely have to create a top whatever list, make sure it is tied to your values and core beliefs, and not what the crowd thinks. And please, tell me why – don’t just post a list.
But please, keep them to yourselves, because If I catch you taking the easy road and posting a top whatever list, I am going to post the top 5 reasons not to visit your site.