Top 10s, Favorites and Bests lists rank just about everything from cars to college degrees.
Some of these are truly silly such as David Letterman’s nightly rankings on late-night TV.
Lists aim to inform but more often entertain. Some are serious and useful while others are meant to energize debate and discussion.
U.S. News and World Report has for years ranked colleges. College-bound students and their parents study the rankings looking for the best education at the best price at the coolest campus. Meanwhile, college admissions officials cringe.
This past week U.S. News published another list that might make Minnesotans cringe.
The list of 10 Best States in America ranked Minnesota No. 2.
High scores for Quality of Life (No. 2), Opportunity (No. 3) Infrastructure (No. 6) and Health Care (No. 7) pushed Minnesota to the top. Both those scores were not quite good enough to make Minnesota No. 1.
That ranking went to IOWA.
So how did that happen? A story accompanying the list notes Minnesota’s leadership in health care, education, culture and income.
Iowa leads the nation in Infrastructure and gets high Health Care and Opportunity scores.
Minnesota’s rivalry with its southern neighbor reaches a full-throated peak when the Gophers play the Hawkeyes in football. When the game is in Minneapolis, thousands of black and yellow-clad fans pay top dollar for admission to see which team gets possession of bronze pig in a rivalry that dates to 1935.
The chant “Who hates Iowa? We hate Iowa” is one of the few than can be shared in a family newspaper.
But mostly it’s good fun for all.
Rankings and lists drive the internet. Buzz Feed and other sites have sharpened the obsession to an art form.
For readers, lists provide a mix of entertainment and information. For digital media, lists are serious business that drive their revenue model.
Internet sites live and die by page views, time on site and readers sharing the content.
Lists hit the target on all three. Lists are typically displayed so that readers must click to a new page to see each of the entries on the list rather than viewing the entire list on one page. With each click, a new collection of ads pops into view.
As readers click through the list pages, they rack up additional minutes on the website, and if editors and designers have done their jobs, headlines and links to even more stories keep readers hooked.
And then there’s sharing. How many Iowans do you think shared (along with a wiseacre comment) the Best States rankings with their Minnesota friends and relatives?
The Best States lists are perfect for ribbing our neighbors (North Dakota ranked No. 4) but other more serious rankings deserve attention.
For example, Minnesota’s 348 traffic deaths in 2017 was the lowest since the 274 deaths in 1943, when gas was rationed and motorists couldn’t buy tires.
Nationwide, Minnesota tied for first place with Massachusetts and Rhode Island for the fewest fatalities per miles traveled in 2017.
There’s another ranking Minnesotans can be proud of. In the 2016 election, 74.5 percent of Minnesotans voted. That’s a No. 1 ranking and for those keeping score, Iowa was No. 5.
We can keep that ranking by voting this fall and making sure our friends and family members are registered and get to the polls.