Sunday, June 08, 2014

Why Lists Are Stupid

The media just doesn't get it....
Recently a media story listing a "Top Ten" about gravel races has been getting a lot of attention. That's pretty interesting for a couple of reasons.

First of all, you have to understand the way media sites make money. They make money by telling potential advertisers about their Google Analytic numbers and other web metrics. More is better. Meaning more hits on a site, or a particular story is good for gathering and maintaining a certain stable of paying advertisers so the web monkeys can make a living. Sites get more hits by posting certain stories that get you to click on the link. They know what prompts this and that is all they need- for you to click on the link! 

One of the best ways to get folks to click on a link is to list things as a "Top Ten", or "Five Ways To Get Fit", etc. People love lists and click the bejesus outta them links! This is good for business and so as far as the particular content behind these links goes, anything is game. They usually have a LOT of B.S. in them. Take for instance the aforementioned "Top Ten" of gravel races in the U.S. (See it here if you must, but really- DON'T CLICK THE LINK!!)

This list has ten gravel road races listed on it as being the "ten best" in America. Of the ten, one has been cancelled for 2014, one hasn't even happened ever before, and another is so underground that you have to almost know someone to even get in the event. What's worse is that the list doesn't include one of the most seminal grassroots gravel races ever- The Almanzo 100. That is unconscionable.

So, once again, a list created to boost site hit numbers has erroneous and misleading info. Don't believe anything you see there folks. If these yahoos can't figure out that one of the best ever gravel events should be on the list, ya can't believe anything they say.

4 comments:

Unknown said...

So tempting to click that link, but I will abstain. I'm sure there's more thoughtful things to read on the internet. It's kind of big.

Donnie said...

Couldn't agree more. I was initially flattered to get included on the list, but once I saw the other events, it was obvious these folks don't know anything about gravel. And really, they just needed something in the western US so their map didn't loop lopsided...


Donnie

Kate Geisen said...

I really wanted to click that link, but I held off. Unfortunate that the list-makers can't at least put out accurate information.

Michael Lemberger said...

You can click through. Their list of the 5 best gravel bikes is a series of scans of a print article, posted without any reference to the source. When the originating publication's lawyers are finished, there will be one less lame site on the interwebz.