7 is the new 10
So I lost a bet. Top 10 lists have long been the staple of bloggers, online writers, and one particular late night comedian. But like any “too much of a good thing”, I got into a discussion about “why top 10 lists”. Why not top 6 or top 9? A few interesting queries later, I was able to determine: do people really like top 10 stories? or has that number become so trite, so overused, that top 10 lists are ignored and overlooked. My guess, top 6 stories would be the most successful, my adversary (VP Malcolm Young) guessed top 7 lists.
| Top ? | Stories Submitted |
Stories Popular |
Success Rate |
| Top 12 | 34 | 16 | 47% |
| Top 11 | 34 | 10 | 29% |
| Top 10 | 1690 | 653 | 39% |
| Top 9 | 10 | 2 | 20% |
| Top 8 | 25 | 1 | 4% |
| Top 7 | 90 | 53 | 59% |
| Top 6 | 18 | 1 | 6% |
| Top 5 | 558 | 162 | 29% |
| Top 4 | 17 | 1 | 6% |
| Top 3 | 40 | 3 | 8% |
At first I wondered whether the non top 10 lists would be better because the thought behind them was less contrived. However, it appears that only 2 numbers (12 and 7) were more successful than 10. I think there are a couple of points to be taken:
- Top 10 and 5 lists aren’t that bad, but it looks contrived when you hit that number on the head. If you were really trying to provide valuable content, why restrict yourself to those numbers? It just looks like you are trying to game the system.
- Top 3 or 4 lists are just too small. They hardly make a list at all.
- Top 6, 9 and 11 lists seem unrefined or incomplete. If you are going to submit a list with numbers so close to the comfortable 5 and 10, you should take the time to refine or supplement it.
- 7 is the magic number, it seems the most comfortable – not exhausting but not incomplete. Perhaps our attention span is shorter than ever?
- 12 is not so bad itself. Perhaps 12 feels “comprehensive” and “complete”
Happy Digging!
No tags for this post.8 Comments
Trackbacks/Pingbacks
- Top Sevens Are Tops | Marketing Pilgrim - [...] Jones on theGoogleCache took a look at how “Top #” lists perform on Digg. We all know how popular…
- The Way The Internet Should Be! » Blog Archive » Top Sevens Are Tops - [...] Jones on theGoogleCache took a look at how “Top #” lists perform on Digg. We all know how popular…
- The Messaging Times :: Blog - [...] to 39% for the traditional Top 10 compilations. Marketing Pilgrim’s Jordan McCollum, who noticed Jones’s experiment long before I…
- Weird Stuff Online :) » Blog Archive » Top 7 Lists Lead The Pack On Digg - [...] 39% for the traditional Top 10 compilations.ÂÂ Marketing Pilgrim’s Jordan McCollum, who noticed Jones’s experiment long before I…
- 7 Things You Need to Know About Writing Lists That Work | Copyblogger - [...] is evidence to suggest that top 10 lists may be viewed as somewhat contrived, while lists shorter than 5…
- 7 Encouraging Must-Read Articles For The Blogger Just Starting Out - [...] Actually, the last five go to him, but I only wanted the list to go up to 7 because…
- Posting Lists works - [...] It´s Top-7, what surprised me first. Russ Jones at thegooglecache.com scientifically proved why 7 is the new 10, so…
- Why 7 is the new 10 | Top 7 lists - [...] research on digg had been done about lists and found that top 7 lists are more popular than top…
- What is the most popular "top (number)" list on Digg? | Social Media Trader - [...] it’s almost the “default setting” for “top (number)” lists. Similar research into Digg lists were carried out this year)…
- do people really like top 10 stories? « - [...] What’s the number? Head over and check it out…. [...]
Submit a Comment
Nice info to know, thanks for doing all the leg work for the rest of us 😉
(I have to say I’m surprised that 8 had the lowest success rate of all)
I think top 23 lists would be the way to go 😉
Aren’t there various studies about how human beings are irrisistably attracted to the number 7? So products whose price includes a 7 are more likely to sell… it makes sense that this extends to top X lists as well. Thanks for the info.
It’s interesting to notice that in “top X” lists, X is always a very significant number:
* 7: the days of the week, the 7 dwarfs, 7 deadly signs, … it’s one of the most “ancient” numbers
* 10: the number of our fingers. the base of our maths
* 12: number of months. it also exist a word for it: dozen. does it exist for 13? 14? 15? no
Maybe that 7 minute abs guy was on to something . . .
Phew! And there was me thinking I was just being lazy 😉
“does it exist for 13?”
YES! It’s called a “baker’s dozen” 🙂
Seems we humans have a thing for the number 7. Price testing also reveals that we often prefer prices that end in 7 rather than another number.
I wonder what would happen if we changed the week to 8 days? Anyone want to try a little experiment…?
Best,
Paul Hancox