Whether you love it or hate it, the listicle – a blend of list and article – has quickly
become a very popular content format.
22 brain facts, 29 Things Australians Say (That Americans Don't), 17 things humanity
ruined in 2015.
Pets?
Really?!
Listicles are everywhere.
So, why are they so popular?
There are some ideas, based in science, that explain why.
Listicles are readable and easy to digest, they’re kind of like the graphic novel of
the internet.
And they play a role in curating information.
Researchers estimated that in 2008, people consumed 60% more information than they did
in 1960.
Back then, the average American spent 7.4 hours a day, outside of work, watching, reading
and listening to things; on the phone and having conversations with other people.
In 2008 that number was a 11.8 hours a day, and today it’s closer to 13 hours.
Because we consume so much stuff, we’re pretty distracted.
A curated list appeals to us.
Part of this appeal is being able to skim or quickly look at a listicle and process
all of it’s content.
The headlines help by telling us exactly what we’re going to get: The 25 Most Huggable
Pokémon.
So, we’re satisfied.
But this ease of processing information can lead to some interesting effects.
At the core of this is cognitive fluency–it’s a measure of how easy it is to think about
something.
People like thinking about things that are easier to think about, compared to things
that are hard to think about.
No surprises there.
And generally, the more fluently you can process an object, the more positive your response
is to it.
Let’s take a closer look.
In one study, researchers showed participants a statement, like “Osorno is in Chile”
in colours that made it easy or difficult to read.
Moderately visible statements were judged as true, and highly visible statements were
judged as true significantly above what people would choose by chance.
The researchers concluded that fluently we perceive things affects our judgments of truth.
Another study found when participants looked at images that were easier to process, they
twitched their muscles into a little subconscious smile.
We can’t infer that reading listicles make us smile, but consuming easier to process
information just might.
And easy-to-process information isn’t new to the “internet age”, it’s had an important
role throughout culture.
“It certainly has”
Okay here’s Mike, from Idea Channel.
“Hey Vanessa!
Yeah, it’s really easy to look our current, list-laden moment and feel overwhelmed!
Or like the internet, with all its distractions and blinking animated GIFs and pictures of
cute cats, has given rise to this particular and particularly easy to digest format.
The listicle FEELS like it’s VERY INTERNET.
Mark O’Connell, for the New York Times, writes that online browsing often seems like
“a comic nightmare of futile enumeration.
The point of counting is, in a way, to get to the end of counting; but this is a counting
that admits of no conclusion—a bottomless inventory of everything and nothing.”
Mark may be more right than he realizes.
The listicle has been around for much, much longer than the internet has, and may be on
one of the central ways we’ve cataloged and organized the world for a long time.
It’s just that, with the internet, we realize the true infinity of whats available for sorting
and cataloging, and lists doing so.
Like, 5 genius trashcan lifehacks or The 21 Most Important Raccoons Of 2015 or 159 Disney
Quotes For When You Need An Instagram Caption or 6 Video Games That Failed Before You Pressed
Start or OK OK I’m gonna stop before this becomes a listicle listicle.
If you wanna hear more about the 29 different ways listicles have been perhaps flawed–but
definitely important and interesting–throughout history, head on over to Idea Channel when
you’re done here.
Thanks, Vanessa!”
Of course!
But as much as we’ve liked lists throughout history, it’s not a perfect format.
Sure, some people will say “listicles are ruining journalism”, but we don’t speak
of the impact of the format as much as the way it’s written.
In my humble opinion, you don’t remember listicles.
You don’t learn things from them.
I’ve tried to think about any list article or video that I’ve read or watched in my
entire life, and I can only remember two from the past two years: 37 Signs You Grew Up In
Australia In The ’90s and 20 Facts about the Muppets.
And I probably remember these because Agro’s cartoon connection, zooper doopers and Kermit
resonate with me on a deep emotional level.
And this is the thing about listicles: they’re just like a zooper dooper or a popsicle in
that they’re appealing, you can start and finish it in two minutes, and you’ll be
somewhat satisfied.
Some people even say that listicles activate your brain's reward system, so you’ll finish
wanting more.
In his TED talk, psychology professor Peter Dolittle says that your working memory is
about the size of a pea.
You need to use it to make sense of all the information you encounter every day and it’s
limited in its capacity, duration and focus.
You tend to remember about 4 things for 10-20 seconds unless you do something with it–like
apply that knowledge to something you already know or talk to someone about it.
Otherwise, any bite of information, is (in a manner of speaking) in one ear and out the
other.
Don’t get me wrong, the listicle isn’t a bad thing!
It has a well-deserved place in the media landscape as a piece of entertainment and
our brains love that we can fluently process them.
But as pieces of education, I’m not convinced.
And if you want to hear Mike’s voice again, and even see his face, head over to Idea Channel
for his take on humanity and the listicle.
And, maybe to see 15 hedgehogs with things that look like hedgehogs.
See you next week.