Seem to be a sure way of attracting viewers and tempting clicks. Just take a look at Google, and what it says are the top 10 of anything. It is a little irritating when information is twisted or abused for one's self-promotion or profit.
All top tens
In fact, there is a website dedicated to this very topic. A place where you can discover the top ten lists of just about anything. They take it very seriously and take the responsibility to heart and the lists abound, tailored to just about anything you could imagine wanting to know about, even before you were curious. For example, they tell us some of these top tens, regardless of your mood, regardless of your personal opinion:
- the 10 most dangerous countries
- the top 10 most beautiful countries in the world
- top 10 best male singers in the world
Like you, I have my own concerns with the label of "top 10" because the person or site stating it is so, very rarely share how they came up with the list.
Debate
Perhaps why people like to blog or write about the top or best of anything, is because they are usually almost a guarantee to generate clicks. For instance, the top persons, personalities, brands, products or music tend to check these very lists out to see if they're named.
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| Billboards Top 100 Charts |
Critical Lists
The top of some things are used as a gauge to results. As they should be. There are authorities that are referenced and used as measurement:
And so on.
Authority
It seems that the most credible top lists of any kind, share how they come up with this list, and are very transparent. Those are the best kind. Take, for example, Forbes' list for top companies, they explain how the top are decided:
The FORBES Global 2000 is a comprehensive list of the world’s largest, most powerful public companies, as measured by revenues, profits, assets and market value. We use a composite score that weighs those four metrics equally, as one barometer alone would present a biased and incomplete account (read our methodology here).
Knowledge
You can uncover whatever it is that you are curious about. Forget the books because by the time the list is updated, the book is outdated. For instance, they crop up on so many of the Social Media sites, just itching for a click:
Outlook
Want to improve your mood? Your attitude? Learn how to personally develop a positive vibe? They're out there too:
Research
Want to find out who is an authority on something? Just go looking (keeping in mind that far too often this is subjective and personal without any decision making criteria shared to arrive at this). There are those that specialize in just this topic: lists
“Lists & collaboration are in our DNA. Listly connects these two core human traits in an app that is as social as a campfire.”
~Nick Kellet
Listly
There are the how tos of how to create a list:
Here are the many ways you can add items to your Listly:
- Quick Add. Quick Add is available to owners of the list right on the list page. With Quick Add, you can author multiple items and save them all together. Here's a tutorial on how to use Quick Add.
- Ask People To Contribute. A reader of your list can contribute items to your list, which you can in turn moderate. Here's how your readers can add to your list. Here's how you can moderate items in your list.
- Chrome Extension. With the Chrome Extension, you can add one or more items from a page you are browsing, to a list on Listly. You can choose to "bookmark" the page as an item or select text and images from within the page to add as items to a list. To install (and watch a video tutorial) visit Chrome Store24.
- Bookmarklet. For browsers other than Chrome, the Listly Bookmarklet allows you to add a page you are browsing as an item to a Listly list. For an overview and installation help, see help on Listly Bookmarklet.
- Bulk Import. Bulk Import is integrated into Quick Add. You can add multiple items, one line at a time which feeds into Quick Add. Here's how to use Bulk Import.
- CSV Import. You can import items from a CSV file. Items will be imported in the background and your list will be updated once the import is done. Here's how to use CSV Import.
- Use Zapier. Zapier7 lets you automate additions to your list based on events that occur outside Listly. For example, you can add all links you tweet into a list on Listly without ever visiting the Listly website. Zapier supports hundreds of services including Twitter, Facebook, Instagram & RSS. Here's how you can use Zapier with Listly.
And plenty more
- Top 10 Everyday Life Hacks in 10 Seconds or Less
- 7 Lessons Everyone Can Learn from Getting Vulnerable
- 6 Simple Gluten Free Snack for the Holidays
Lists of scams
Yes, there are even lists of the biggest scams. You can find lists of warnings, scams, money suckers, and racketeers and fear mongerers.
The who's who
A classic list. Back in the day, in sales sleuthing, this was the bible for me, of looking up anyone of importance. It was a hard cover book that a sales organization would pay to buy. The irony is that these same authorities are not that at all, they are often scams:
My business was contacted in 2008 about becoming a part of the Global Directory of Who's Who, which advertised itself to be a networking directory. We paid $699.00 for the membership and were subsequently charged $199.00 for a directory that we did not order. The total amount charged to our credit card was $967.99. To date, we have not received ANYTHING as a result of this money paid out - they sent us two wall plaques with the wrong name written on them, and when I contacted them about it back in December, they assured me that they would fix them and send new ones - we still have not received them almost four months later. They never sent us the directory they charged us $200 for. The company is impossible to get ahold of - you rarely reach anyone except for an answering machine.
Lists to entertain
A favorite of mine: lists of things that interest me, like Music from CBC's "12 albums you need to hear" or Calgary's own Tegan and Sara's own Top 10 favorites of their own music.
Profit LISTS
Then the listers who profit from listing. The small print often omits that in order to be on any given list, you have to pay to be there.
Reviews blues
I have it from a reliable source, that YELP reached out to them because they had a negative review associated to their business on the site. They were approached by YELP to pay a fee to have the negative comments removed. Yet it has a large following.
Numbers by force
Just because someone or something has cleverly amassed a large following, does not mean it is an authority. Similarly, the tricksters can't force the numbers to their own way of thinking. We realize that often it is a popularity contest when some are identified by others. I am disturbed when I can see that it is done with the intention to get recognition, clicks, shares, just by naming someone big.
By acclamation
Just because someone says that they're the best at anything, doesn't mean it is so. Others make statements on expertise without much back up.
Annoyance
I saw a list this week from someone from my home city, Calgary, who blogged, promoted, shared, and tweeted who the top social media personalities from Calgary were. It didn't take a rocket science Phd to see that there was nothing to back it up other than their own personal opinion.
The source
You have to consider the source. Yes, we're attracted by nature on social media to peak at a list of anything. Often, hope on our sleeves that we will be named. There are the times when you go "what the heck?"
Opinion
Personal opinions have no authenticity. They should begin with that statement "based on my opinion" so it will signal that it is a means to attract notoriety for oneself. Think about it, if a big brand or a name is listed, there may be the desire to have that person or company, like, retweet, share it.
Back up
Credibility goes out the window very fast when there is no excerpt to accredit where this information was gathered from.
1. Klout
People vote on what they find familiar to them by association from your name on Klout:
What's in a name?
The case in this point was going to known authorities like KLOUT or KRED that documents, lists expertise by algorythm or clicks or consistent appearance under a topic. For example, Klout shows the following as the top experts on "Calgary".
Broad brush
You can take things at face value or dig a little deeper to authenticate your findings. In this example, I Googled "Best of Calgary" and it resulted with by radio stations. Radio stations, all forms of media, charge advertising and promote reach by sharing such important lists. It doesn't always authenticate authority, it is more often generated by search from sources like "Google" when I was looking for the source that compiles lists of influence based on City. In this case, google assumed what I may be looking for.
Skew
You can take a wander to see how your own name is doing. Just don't get too caught up in the results. Sites like google are skewing the response based on you, your clicks, your views, your searches. Of course, you should be high up on the results. I wouldn't recommend being tricked into thinking that it is YOU:
Trusted source
It goes to show you that even the most popular sources are not always your best resource. Like in this instance, where I don't even register. Sometimes not even being there is not always a bad thing. This site has a purchase available to view criminal records, etc.:
Visibly invisible
So, if this gent didn't include me on his list of most influential Calgarians. I don't mind. Sometimes, you want and should only be recognized or visible with positive identifications.
Inform
Looking for lists can uncover a lot of great content to Tweet or share or post (like this article, where at the end I will reveal what I was looking for when this blog commentary took off). Sometimes there are issues unique to your world, your city, your interests that are likely going to resonate with others. Take time to share. You may be pleasantly surprised by it being like, shared or commented on. I also discover great images. Images attract clicks like nobody's business. I always try to find royalty-free images, avoiding sites like Shutter Stock. I don't mind using Getty Images because they are clearly identified and you are giving the appropriate credit.
Back when I was actively working in sales, I always thought the ticket police had a magnet or gps identification for my vehicle, simply because I always seem to be rewarded with a ticket when it ran out of time while I was actively engaged in a sales meeting.
Discovery
Top lists on any topic, just by searching, will uncover really cool things for you to click on. They don't have to be defined by numbers always. Sometimes, you can be content just by the discovery. For instance, as I was snooping around for various lists on any topic matter, I became intrigued by this:
Top 10 Musicians you didn't know were aboriginal:
Authentic authenticity
My point? Before you make a broad statement and try to pass it off as an authoritative, make sure you do your homework. If not, be clear that it is merely your opinion. The two cannot be mixed, unless clearly stated as such. Don't embarrass yourself or have your credibility cast aside based on missing details.
Emphasis
I suppose it is up to the individual to decide who is the the most popular, most read, most listened to, most adhered to. It is personal. I find it disappointing to see a bunch of people congratulating each other on making a list that has not identified how the list was created by someone who associates with the others.
KLOUT: Cross reference
I went to Klout.com to look up the list from the aforementioned top list. To provide proof that it is not always consistent or reliable.
Numbers
The numbers don't always measure the number of followers in such cases. It is a pure, unbiased form of recognition for the topic or person. There is no way that anyone can sway the results other than simply being. Out there. Real. Authentic. Not always recognized. They can be because they are associated by a hot topic or trending viral campaign, for the moment. The *expertise is not self-proclaimed.
Campaigns
It isn't always because someone has tried to trick the voice of algorithms like Google or Klout. It does not mean it is an army of people clicking, sharing, attempting to drive the results higher. It can be a sole person like Meghan, resonating within a group of people, a city, or a topic. That digs a little deeper. A little harder to acclaim, unless you can support it. By numbers.
Calgary defined
Interesting that none of the people listed on THE list were identified here while Meghan Grant was not even included? That's where stats can be somewhat misleading. If you are from Calgary, you know that Meghan was covering the grizzly court proceedings of Degrood murders: captivating not just the locals, but on the radar across the nation for brutally murdering 4 young people in their prime while celebrating the end of the university year at a party. The notoriety that Ms. Grant received was from covering the courtroom proceedings play by play on Twitter. Therefore, in this example, she may be relevant today or recently. Perhaps the former list is claiming that the others are more consistently noted. i.e. Nenshi is the City of Calgary's Mayor, so it isn't really surprising that he would be at the top of this. However, when you use other measurement sticks, he shows to be almost the same Klout score as me, for goodness sake!
Stats this
Why I like Klout in an instance like this is because the algorithm that is used is transparent.
It is assembly of influence across the universe,
clearly identifying who is the most often clicked
upon, shared, liked or recognized as an EXPERT
based on those very things they are identified for.
Scratch that
Is that a scratch each other's back or authentic or authoritative? I pulled the top three names to examine and cross reference with a few other authorities on the subject. Randomly selected without any specific association.
Marvelous metrics
The next time you see a tweet, a post, a blog, or a claim to anything of notoriety, just ask yourself where that statement was authenticated by? Like me, you'll probably be a little skeptical if there is no support to the metrics.
Be humble
People like humility. They like hearing about someone or a story about someone, a city (like Fort McMurray climbing beyond unsurmountable odds), bravery, beauty, humanity, quotes and beautiful images. Those are the secrets. Ignore the tricksters.
Tricksters
take claim to what is not their's to own. Like top anything by anyone. It should signal to you that this is a signal that someone is trying to profit from your naivety to believe anything that anyone says doesn't make it so.
Confirm for yourself. There are places you can find independently formulated information like Twopcharts. Ironically, my first connection with Twopcharts.com/calgary was when they reached out to me and Tweeted my results. They wouldn't have even been on my radar.
Gold
Twopcharts should have been the first place the above article and identification should have started with. As with any numbers, they can be manipulated. Thus, you should not take the information as gospel unless you take the time to investigate. You certainly shouldn't blog or make a broad statement unless you follow the traditional avenues of credibility and fact checking.
Who, what, where
for any given city can be decided merely by checking this out. Of course, they tend to be swayed by follower numbers, so that is the easiest way of climbing the charts. I like how KRED or KLOUT uses clicks along with the other numbers and topics. But if you want to find someone who has an identified strong presence in your city or locale, it is a great place to start.
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Start with the basics
What is that this particular site uses to measure the source you are looking at, the user, the name. How each one shares transparently how they arrive at the results is the best way to determine the outcome. I've shared Klout's and now you can see above that my Twopscore is 9.61 compared to the average user (this is a new measurement stick I discovered by writing this commentary):
Nenshi
According to Twopcharts measurement, Nenshi's twopscore is 7.37 - just average they say?
Calgary: June 3, 2016
Back to my earlier points. If you are broadcasting, writing, or claiming any ownership or accrediting results, you may really want to check this site out to ensure that you have done your fact checking to ensure you have credibility.
Sadly, none of the names identified at the earliest point, are included here. This case has more to do with what people are paying attention to rather than necessarily WHO can claim supreme ruler of anything or anywhere.
Registration
Interestingly, Twopcharts doesn't even register hardly on being an authority of much of anything. Caveat being that I only searched for "Calgary Twopcharts" not the organization as a whole. When I searched simply "Twopcharts" there were no results generated. Huh?
Trendworthy
I discovered this source for getting the fingers clicking on the pulse on what hashtags are trending at the present time.
Historicals
Fun feature found here: my first tweet. You can almost tell that my attitude at the time (March 2010) was that going on Twitter was a necessary evil. Fast forward today, I've transformed into an enthusiast. Love promoting my city. In fact, reddit.com assigned me the responsibility for CanadianTravel.
Rewards
If my experience and if sharing any of those experiences are any example, you don't always get recognition for your efforts. It is whether you gain knowledge to share with others:: that is what is important to me. I'm a firm believer that it will catch up in the long run. You just have to have patience and faith.
Lessons
One needs to extrapolate what they learn from any adventure, exploration or venture. My top three lessons are:
- only believe those that do their homework
- just because someone says it is so, doesn't mean it is
- anyone who has to broadcast themselves as something, usually aren't
Amazing
I still didn't find that music clip that caught my attention on CBC news last night where a group of aboriginal songsters released a wonderful song. Amazing what collects along the way while you are exploring. A simple blog can take hours.
Nevertheless, I will keep digging. Who knows how many more blogs will unfold.
My top trending tweet today: Friday, June 3, 2016:
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