The Top List of Why Top Lists Suck

All “top” lists suck - and here are the top reasons why:

1. Mindshare is ethereal. Numbers alone will never, EVER tell the full tale.
2. A list is only as strong as its deveoper, structure, validity (mindshare), and taxonomy. You may not even rank on the “X list” because the indexer doesn't know about you.
3. Apathy. People don't always vote. A user-driven tally isn't necessarily representative of overall popularity - especially if a would-be active participant isn't aware of the opportunity to play along.
4. Follow the money. List positions and nominations can be and ARE sold on a regular basis. This is the case more often than not, sadly.
5. Popularity contests hurt feelings and create unwarranted animosity. It's a lot like high school, only there's much more at stake when you don't make a seemingly-important list. Exclusivity is only cool when you're included.
6. Rankings are arbitrary. Popular by whose standards? Why are they popular? According to what metrics? Are the metrics valid? Have they covered every base? Value is relative.
7. Technology sucks. No, seriously - it sucks. It doesn't work when you need it to work, and doesn't work they way you want it to work. Ever.
8. Rankings aren't measured cross-medium. You may be more popular offline than online in a certain category, but if the numbers aren't merged properly (or at all), the results will be skewed and wholly inaccurate. Your wisdom may be genius-level in audio form, but you may not rank in a list that ranks your general subject matter.
9. Human error. How many newspaper, magazine, newsletter, site editors just didn't get it right? The bigger their reach, the more silly their “top X lists” seem to be.
10. You are your own list. You only use the products and services you feel are best for you. New lists might influence your decisions, but ultimately, you're defining what remains on your radar.

Too many people place too much weight on these damned things. Sour grapes? Sweet wine? Doesn't matter, these are truths - at least, according to me. We love to read lists, we love to see ourselves on lists, but the lists really mean nothing (instead of “something”). This list, inherently, sucks. Everybody who reads it is #1, everybody who links to it is #1, everybody who ignores it is #1.

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