Jonathon Sturgeon, in an article about how and why people chat about books online, mentions in derisive terms a listicle he received not too long ago.
"The day after the last Paris attacks, after viewing streams of dejection online, I received an email from BuzzFeed, a listicle featuring 31 books that promised to restore my faith in humanity."
Speculating that the list was constructed by a computer algorithm bent on the exploitation of Western sadness, Sturgeon, after glancing through the list, decided it was a "marvel of spurious abstraction."
A listicle, by the way, is defined in Wikipedia as "a short-form of writing that uses a list as its thematic structure, but
is fleshed out with sufficient copy to be published as an article. A typical listicle will prominently feature a cardinal number in its title, with subsequent subheadings within the text itself reflecting this schema."
We are all familiar with this attention-getting approach: "The 100 best Doctors in Seattle," "The 20 Best Steak Houses in America," "27 Ways to Keep Him Incredibly Hot," etc. etc. etc.
Mr. Sturgeon's article appeared on "Flavorwire," the lead story of which as of March 18, 2016, was "10 of the Most Groundbreaking Female Politicians in Pop Culture."
Flavorwire is a publication of Manhattan-based Flavorpill Media and if one goes to the company's website, scrolls down and clicks on "Go To Flavorpill," what does one find (as of March 18, 2016) under "Recent Posts?"
-- 5 Saint Patrick's Day Events You Won't Regret the Morning After
-- 5 of the Best Coffee Shops to Work Remotely
-- 5 Surreal TV Series You Can Watch Right Now
-- 5 Floral Cocktails for Botanical Imbibing
-- 5 Classes to Help You Switch Up Your Yoga and Barre Routine
But, to be fair, there was also:
-- Essential International Women's Day Events to Attend in March (Maybe it would be politically incorrect, or counterproductive, to list the 5 best.)
Should Mr. Sturgeon really be working here?
No comments:
Post a Comment