Lists are undeniably important in our daily chores. We make lists because we don’t want to forget things. They serve as reminders on important information in school, work and even at home. A simple to-do-list for example, will help us prioritize things to avoid overlooking an important appointments or missing things needed to be done. We make list to organize and sort things according to how they are important and helpful to us.
Meanwhile, several institutions and media organizations are making list not only to sort things out but to entice readers or viewers to stick to their programs or subscribe to their magazines or websites. Here the concept of making “list” pushes people to become interested to information. Nobody affords to ignore information such as “the most,” “the best” and “the top” lists that even a five year old girl becomes interested because of the “catchy” packaging style of the information. The Forbes and Time magazine are very familiar on this because of their quotable lists. Among their popular lists include, “the most influential man in the world,” “the most trustworthy companies in the world” (of Forbes list) and the “people of the year” and “best 100 people in the world” of Time Magazine’s list.
But making a list has changed from the traditional into more innovative approaches due to new technologies and proliferation of social media. They are now becoming more interactive and collaborative – where the pulse of the people became the primary and final consideration.
With the help of the social networking system, there are several websites that makes lists base on tastes, feeling and opinions of the people.
Pinterest.com — This is a virtual pinboard that allows users to organize and share the best of things they found interesting and worth sharing. The idea of pinterest is to connect people according to the ‘things’ they find interesting. A favorite book, a toy, or recipe or whatever that will provide a common link among people. With millions of new pins (Pin is an image uploaded or added using the “Pin It” button in the pinterest platform) added every week, Pinterest is connecting people all over the world based on shared tastes and interests.
Listnerd.com – Listnerd modifies the traditional way of making lists. It allows everyone to create a list according individual preferences and interests. Simply log-in using your facebook and tweeter account and get the full access to create, share and explore interesting, interactive lists about anything and everything you care about.
What is interesting about Listnerd is that, the top of the list is judge according to the tastes, feelings and opinions of the people – thus, the real “people’s choice.” Although the author or the original creator of the list, they call it “curator” determines the overall theme of the lists or has the capacity to allow and disallow items to the list yet ranking are still according to people choice.
