Listmania: A List of Lists
Megan Scott of The Seattle Times wrote in her article Web Sites Cater to Our Lust for Lists, that "More than 80 percent of people keep lists, according to a poll conducted by Zogby International."
Scott asked author Barbara Ann Kipfer about listmaking. "Lists are the defining organizing principle of the 21st century." Kipfer added, ""In the era of Google, Wikipedia, BlackBerrys, iPods, and TiVo, there is too much information and content and not enough time."
I did a search on Amazon.com for books under the word "lists" and got 464,198 results. There are books on how and why to make lists. There are books of lists on every conceivable subject. Entertainment programs on TV have countdown lists: Top 100 Most Outrageous Celebrity Moments, 100 Greatest Pop Songs, 50 Worst Songs, Sexiest Celebrities, Police Car Chases, and that list goes on.
I'm a listmaker myself. It keeps me sane and I probably wouldn't be able to function if I didn't write stuff down (bad short term memory). I came across the website 43Things.com one day and started a list there (it's on the sidebar now). It's a place where you can type in things you want to do, whether it's in the near or far future, serious or silly.
I made a list of websites where you can create your own lists (all free to use). Some of these are useful and some are just for fun. The first five are a group of sites connected with each other. Navigation can be confusing and frustrating though, especially when trying to switch back and forth from sites.
- 43Things.com - Long-term and short-term goal list. It has the following sister websites:
- 43Places.com - List places you want to go or places you've been. On my list of places I want to visit (so far): Japan and Switzerland.
- 43People.com - List people you'd like to meet.
- AllConsuming.net - Tell others about your favorite books, music, food & drink, etc.
- Lists of Bests - Similar to the one above. Your favorite Books, Music, Movies, Places, People, more.
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- Ta-da Lists - Make 'To Do' lists or anything else. You can create as many as you want under different titles or categories.
- ZingLists - Create private 'To Do' lists or public lists of anything you want.
- Meosphere - Add to lists others created to make one big community list or make your own about anything you want. The navigation is a little confusing here. Lists are embeddable too, so you can place them on your blog if you wish. You can also keep a private journal.
- Backpack - Similar to the other list sites. Make a 'To Do' list, set reminders, make notes. For the calendar, you have to upgrade to the paid version, but the rest is free.
- Gubb - Easy-to-use listmaker. Make a category and then list stuff under it.
- Remember the Milk - Task List with with function that allows you to email tasks to and from your list. Categories include Personal, Study, & Work. It took a few minutes to figure out the features, but it's pretty easy to use.
- UnSpun (by Amazon) - You can log in with your Amazon.com account. Create or add to community lists, which are mostly best & worst lists. You can also put them on your blog. Not very useful, but fun.
- Pet Peeves - First, I can't believe they got the term Pet Peeves trademarked. Anyway, this is another fun list. I like their tag line: Now you can complain about anything, and someone will actually listen!
- Microsoft Outlook - Okay, it's not a website, but it's what I use. I got my calendar, address book, and task list all in one place. I will use a few of the sites though, because they have more features than the task list in Outlook.
- Updated: Oct 9, 2007- Listography - I found this on Suk Yee's blog. It's a fun site and there are many list categories to choose from. Lists can be public or private. Good idea for your blog sidebar and for those who want to put up a more detailed profile.
- RateItAll - Calls itself "The Opinion Network." Examples of members' lists include reviews of hotels, magazines, video games, gadgets, etc.
