The Problem with the Top 10 Gen Y List
[The following a post from a reader, Meredith, who reached out to me and expressed her disappointment that the Top 10 Gen Y Blog list had become a popularity contest. I initially told her she was welcome to use the comments, and I would address each of her points, but she was so passionate and adamant about what she had to say that I decided to give her the floor.
She had some very valid points, and expressed many of the concerns I had when I initially made the switch to the voting system. I want to thank Meredith for her contribution to this conversation. Please weigh in with your thoughts in the comments section, and I'll address my rationale and combat a few of her points in a post tomorrow.]
I want to thank Ryan for giving me the floor. I respect him and what he does greatly. I think what he’s done is pretty brilliant in being the ‘judge’ of the top 10 Gen Y blogs. Because all of the sudden he has made himself the authority. I think we can all learn from what he’s done.Before I get into the problem with this list, I want to say why this matters to me. I consider myself very lucky – and we’re all very lucky – to be born in a time where people are generous enough to spend their time writing amazing content on blogs for all the world to read.
There are people who I believe should definitely be higher on this list – or on the list – that have impacted me tremendously. I fear that if they even pay attention to these lists – they may get insulted or upset that they didn’t make it. And even though I’m sure that won’t happen – it’s the least I can do, as these people have changed the way I think.
I thought your first list featured some amazing blogs. In fact, I read every single one of them now.
[Note: This was not actually my first list, but the most recent list I had provided before switching to the voting system.]
Sadly, it seems as though your new list and the way it’s comprised is by votes. Of course, voting means it becomes a popularity contest. Or more so, it becomes a game of which bloggers tells their readers and friends to vote for them the most or which blogger votes for themselves the most.
For instance, Holly Hoffman’s blog is a fantastic blog that is very interesting. In fact, I’m glued to it like US Weekly. And to me that’s what it is. It’s a guilty pleasure. But how can a blog that had one post in the entire month of January be picked as ‘Top Gen Y blog’ and not that I have anything against her – I truly admire her – but her blog reads more like a diary. How is her love life relevant to Gen Y?
Are you telling me, you get more of out Holly’s blog than Ben Casnocha’s blog or Penelope Trunk’s blog? Her blog is incredibly entertaining and educational!
The fact that Ben’s blog is barely on the list is appalling. He is so insightful and so eloquent and he writes daily.
What happened to Driven Leaders? That blog is so interesting and so pertinent to us. I learn something new each time I visit.
How about Guru Gilbert? He covers so many interesting and relevant topics in an original way with so much passion and it’s so well written.
How about Milena Thomas’s blog? She might have the best ‘how to blog’ out there that pertains to Gen Y.
How about Derek Halpern’s Prevential? Although this blog is relatively new – everything he writes is on the money!
Actually – to be fair – if this is a Top Gen Y blog, how can Penelope’s blog not be on this list? Or is this list only for blogs written by Gen Y’ers? She made the last list.
Dan’s Personal Branding Blog is terrific. However, are you telling me that Gen Y’ers only care about personal branding? I don’t think so. There’s so much more to life.
I’m just saying. I think lists like this can upset people and there are many other bloggers out there that constantly put up amazing content and totally deserve to be recognized more so than ones that were featured.
I can go on and on. And my point is I want these bloggers that weren’t mentioned and recognized – as they very much deserve to be – to go on and on!
So what are you going to do?
Thanks for listening.
Meredith W
Class of 2010
New York University
Popularity: 11% [?]
Meredith – wow, thank you for the mention!
[Reply]
February 5th, 2009 at 9:38 amThe web is a 24-hour popularity contest.
News at eleven.
[Reply]
February 5th, 2009 at 2:00 pmI can agree with some of Meredith’s statements, but I think there is an issue that she is overlooking. Any list, esp. one that is a “Top …” is subjective by design, whether it is based on the writer’s preferences or those that vote. Esp. given that this list was voted on by people who read those other blogs, your issues lie more with the voters than Ryan itself. That’s democracy for ya.
In addition, some of the blogs you mention are in the ‘others receiving votes” section, albeit without numbers. It’s very possible that some of your favorites were one point away.
[Reply]
February 5th, 2009 at 2:01 pmMeredith, you raise some thought provoking questions and I’m really glad you wrote, but I disagree. What’s the problem with a top blog list being a popularity contest? Social media is about getting your content out there and circulating it. It’s about the exchange. I am a big believer in the importance of good content, but one of the challeneges of the Web is it’s not only about what you write, it’s about what audiences it reaches and whethere its resonating and so many other things. So part of creating a list of top blogs is considering the social media dimension.
Your post does raise a very relevant point, and that is that the list could be better defined. What is a Gen. Y blog? Is it written by someone who is a member of Gen. Y or is it just that the content deal with Gen. Y? Maybe this is something that should be cleared up on the next list.
[Reply]
February 5th, 2009 at 5:57 pmThanks so much for your comments!
@Jaclyn – This isn’t about social media though. This is about the best and most interesting and most relevant blogs. Of course, we don’t live in a perfect world, however, this shouldn’t be about who has the most twitter friends or who votes for themselves the most. There has to be a more fair way so bloggers that deserved to be recognized are!
@Norcross – Maybe I am just mad at the voters. But the fact that Ben’s blog (http://ben.casnocha.com/), Adam’s blog (http://gurugilbert.com/), Penelope’s blog (http://blog.penelopetrunk.com/) and so many others aren’t on this list (or high up on the list) totally amazes me!!!
These people consistently write phenomenal content THAT absolutely pertains to GEN Y.
As they say, “There’s gotta be a better way!”
[Reply]
February 5th, 2009 at 8:24 pmFirst of all I just want to thank Meredith again for taking the time to not only engage the list itself, but to provide a valuable and in-depth look into her opinion of the dynamics of the list. Also, I really appreciate her coming back to engage those of you who have left comments.
@Milena – Your blog, along with Andy Drish’s and few others certainly probably deserved at the very list, also receiving votes. I will ensure they’re on the next ballot.
@Norcross – Andrew you are definitely getting at something that I will be discussing in my follow-up.
@Jaclyn – “It’s about the audience it reaches, and whether it’s resonating.” — I couldn’t agree more, and there’s definitely some merit to this. The argument against this is what about those that are just voting for their friends? I’ll address this too.
THIS is why I created this list. To showcase great blogs (and bloggers), but ALSO to have these types of conversation about WHY these blogs are important and resonate. Thanks to all of you for your contributions to the ongoing discussion.
[Reply]
February 5th, 2009 at 8:56 pmHi Meredith,
Thank you for the shout out. Prevential is new but it is growing pretty fast. Anyway, I hope I can continue to write stuff that is “on the money!”
Oh and… Meredith… one more thing. Why don’t you stop by and drop me an e-mail? I’d like to chat with you.
[Reply]
February 5th, 2009 at 9:13 pm@Meredith, how can you seperate blogs from social media? I think really you’re seeing this list as best Gen. Y writers or something like that. I think if we’re talking about blogging, then at least 50% of this is exactly about who is mobilizing their online connections to vote and who’s reaching far and wide. I do think people voting for themselves is a problem, though. But that has more to do with voting mechanisms and is something Ryan could address.
[Reply]
February 6th, 2009 at 8:50 am[...] she’s only written two posts on Work Love Life since our last top list. Maybe it’s because of Meredith’s post referring to her blog as a “guilty pleasure,” (I appreciated Meredith’s insight even though I [...]
April 1st, 2009 at 9:24 pm