I definitely agree with you that people must filter their post to only what is credible enough.

But then, TO QOUTE AIDAN in his comment: “It’s not their fault, it’s the trends and we have to play by the rules.” – It is a great insight, Aidan.

A network ceases to become useful when everyone simply gives kudos, diggs, pats on the back simply because you’re networked. That’s not what a network is about. You re-tweeting because you’re in the same network does no one any favors unless you read the content and actually believe it’s worthy of your time and of course of your readers time.

Here’s how it works:

Come up with a list of really amazing somethings. Quickly author a blurb about each pseudo-amazing something or other on your list. Then, go to Twitter, Dig, Delicious, and every other social (viral) media outlet and spread your garbage across the internet! If you have your faithful 10,000 followers, chances are a few hundred to a few thousand of those folks will ALSO have zero content writing abilities and repost for you. Before you know it, your list (which may not actually be any good or very useful at all) is viewed by millions of folks who aren’t even aware they have any use for such nonsense. Google will hail you as an expert on the subject and everyone will know you’re a master list maker.

Hehe. Can you taste my sarcasm?

In this article we’re taking a closer look at the scapegoat of the current debate surrounding the state of our industry and community: The list post….

A good design blog should have a good mixture of content and list posts are definitely are part of that.

I know very well how frustrating it can be to publish great content that never reaches a big audience and to see other big blogs get thousands of visitors by publishing mediocre content on a daily basis at the same time, but I believe that by being committed and constantly publishing great content success will finds its way to you eventually.

You know most probably as well as I do that preparing a good list post can be just as time-consuming as writing a great article or tutorial.

I wanted to speak up against those mindless list post (you mentioned xxx free wordpress themes) that have the same links that you’ll find all over the web.

Let me clarify some things: I don’t want people to stop tweeting or sharing great content, I want them to select a little bit more consciously and careful what they tweet and share. I often see a lot of twitter-links to relatively mundane posts that I personally find everything else but useful (but that’s just my personal opinion).

Another thing I need to make clear is that this wasn’t a post against list posts, not at all. It was a post against list posts that feature the same content that has already been featured on a hundred other lists and don’t add any value to the community.

I agree with you that there is as well a time-factor. A list post that features the 30 best jquery plugins certainly won’t be that relevant anymore in a year or two, but isn’t that the case with many posts (including this one)?

On the other hand, I completely disagree with your opinion on retweeting posts you don’t understand or that aren’t of any use for you for the sake of the network or community. Imagine everybody would do this, then we would end up with a post that was tweeted 100 times and nobody actually found it useful or understood it. I see tweeting or sharing something as a recommendation to my followers and colleagues and I wouldn’t wanna recommend something I don’t understand and like.

I can’t really say anything regarding the suppression of small design blogs and communities by bigger ones – I personally didn’t experience or notice this, rather the contrary, but those are just my personal experiences and I’d encourage you to share your opinions and not be afraid to be punished by the big boys.

Thanks again for your comment, I really appreciate it!