top 10 reasons that bloggers make lists

friends in publishing tell me that lists are "talkers" that sell magazines and generate good pub. that's why the next issue of contexts will feature the top-10 sociology hunks of 2008 and 20 ways to a sociological imagination and a flat stomach.

lists are even more popular on talk radio and blogs, featuring prominently in stereogum's 50 most discussed posts of 2008:

01. VH1's 100 Greatest Hip-Hop Songs
02. Third Eye Blind Submit "Non-Dairy Creamer" To Worst Song Of 2008 Contest 03. Rolling Stone's 100 Greatest Singers Of All Time
04. Meat Loaf And Tiffany Duet (For An Uncomfortably Long Time) For AT&T's GoPhone
05. The 20 Albums We're Most Excited To Hear In 2009
06. NME's 25 Bands Making America Cool Again
07. The A.V. Club's 20 Acts That Peaked With The Debut Album
08. Pitchfork's Top 50 Albums Of 2008
09. Paste's Top 50 Of 2008
10. Premature Evaluation: Coldplay - Viva La Vida Or Death And All His Friends
11. Bonnaroo: The Sun Exposes Kanye's Glow In The Dark Show
12. Uncut's Top 50 & Mojo's Top 50 of 2008
13. Liveblogging The 2008 Grammys
14. Pitchfork's Top 100 Tracks Of 2008

15. Gummy Awards 2008: Polls Are Open!
...

list stories are especially well-suited to interactive media because they are rarely based on expert knowledge or sophisticated methodology. we're all equally well-positioned to pop off and share our opinions on, say, the curious omission of the sex pistols and guns n' roses from the twenty acts that peaked with the debut album.