A list post about a list post. Or something like that.

Day #2 of Problogger’s 31 days to a better blog is writing a list post. He claims the benefits from a list post are numerous, including scan-ability, viral-ability and the break down of complicated things-ability. While he is right that lists are powerful, they can also be overwhelming if that is all a blogger does – or if the blogger goes into too much detail. And unfortunately, there are very few list ideas that have not already been written that would attract a viral status. But, I am going to stick through this 31 day thing ( I really will!) so ‘list posts’ here I come.

Lists are not always defined by a certain group of people. For example, I would have zero benefit from a list of the most expensive cars in the world, but it doesn’t mean I don’t like drooling over them! On the other hand, I would love a post about ‘insider tricks on twitter’, whereas my husband would just stare at the screen blank and confused.  By the way, there is really no ‘advanced’ twitter tips list, the closest I found was one from oceangrand.org. Anyone want to team up and write the REAL advanced twitter tips??

Anyway, since I at least attempt to be an equal-opportunist blogger and write posts that everyone can benefit from, so my past lists tend to fall into the first category. Since I have written quite a few lists already on this blog, I figured I would start this list post with a list of my best lists:

1. 4 steps to take if things go wrong
2. 7 ways to stay strong in your writing
3. How to know you are making the right decision
4. 5 graphic design rules for everyone to know
5. 4 steps to determine if your site needs a re-design
6. 10 must visit sites for anyone on the web
7. 10 bold moves for more creativity

Now that I have a list in this post – I guess my task is done. But, Problogger’s post continues to say that there are many types of list posts. Type one is just a list (#6 in my list is type #1). Type #2 and #3 are more detailed, they include posts that have a list in them, and extended lists (or lists that have lots of long explanations in the list). #3 in the list would be considered type #2 and #4 in the list would be type #3. So basically, if I were to keep writing about lists, I could turn this post from a semi-type #1 to a type #2 very quickly. And, if I added explanations about each of the list posts listed above, I could make it a type #3 post.

On a side note – list is a weird word, it’s one of those words that if you write it enough times, it begins to look wrong. By the way, if you couldn’t tell, I am a little bored with this whole list thing. Like I mentioned above, I love a good list, but I am finding that there are less and less good lists and more and more lists that are re-written in a new way. That doesn’t make them interesting, and in fact, turns me off of wanting to read list posts entirely. I feel like deja vu with most of the ones I read anyway. For example, while trying to find an advanced list about twitter, I found a few dozen that had the exact same tips in them, just re-written. Really? How is that beneficial to anyone? So I decided to create a new list: The 25 random facts that <most> people don’t know about Twitter (I searched, it doesn’t exist).

Here’s a few to get us started:

1. Twitter is a real word. It is the high pitched sound that a bird makes.
2. There are more results for “twitter” in the google search (368,000,000) than “social media” (35,900,00). A lot more.
3. Jack Dorsey created the idea of  Twitter, not Evan Williams (Evan is credited as a co-founder of the actual site).
4. Blocking someone is the best way to get rid of spammers because they get points against them and Twitter monitors it
5. You can unblock someone, but they will still have the point against them
6. The 2000 follower/followee barrier doesn’t actually exist if your ratio is basically 1:1
7. Twitter has a help page that is actually helpful!
8. Even if you delete a tweet from the twitter stream, it can still be found
9. …..

Your turn! Help me build the list – what are your random facts that most people don’t know about Twitter? Let’s get it completed and I’ll create a new post, with just these tips and we can attempt to get it to go viral!

*Final note, I know that this post went in a few directions, and it was a bit confusing, but I think that is the point of everything I do. I want you to think. I want you to question things. I want you to feel that it is okay to be a little creative and out there, it’s what makes us all interesting and worth reading!

Related posts:

1. The eleventh way to crank out a killer post
2. What is the right length for a blog post?
3. I love Twitter lists.