Happy November! Though I am heartbroken that Halloween season is over, we are now on the verge of the most wonderful time of the year: list season. I’ve been following the development of listicles since I only had computer access for an hour a day (after I finished all my homework). As we grow closer to the end of the year, the “bests” and “worsts” of 2016 are going to be ranked by hundreds of newspapers and magazines and websites, thus consolidating a whole year of our lives into 15 manageable bullet points. Here are just a few examples of the lists that I am looking forward to.
The most-anticipated end-of-year list is, of course, broadwaybeat.com’s “Best ‘Hamilton’ References of 2016 that Definitively Prove that ‘Hamilton’ is Not Just Another Fad.” As an avid “Hamilton” fan that has definitely seen “Hamilton” and thinks “Hamilton” is the zenith of musical theater, I can’t wait for this list. I can’t get enough “Hamilton”! And since pop culture feels the same way, I find it impossible to keep up with every single “Hamilton” reference made. Broadway Beat has been hyping this list since September, and I honestly tear segments of my hair out of my scalp I get so excited just thinking about it.
For those of you who prefer 140 characters over the musical stylings of Lin Manuel Bandana, Twitter is coming out with a few lists that I’m pretty excited about. They are going to have a list for “The Worst Tweets of 2016 with 5k or More Favorites,” because even Twitter knows that a lot of people out there only get favorites because they pay for their followers.
However, just to be fair they will also make a list “The Best Tweets of 2016 with 5 or Less Favorites,” which is good news for me because my twitter only has two followers; I am not a sellout. They are also coming up with another pair of lists: “The Best Tweets of 2016 About How Much 2016 Stunk,” and “The Worst Tweets of 2016 About How 2016 has been the Best Year Yet.” A divisive year, 2016 will be remembered not only for the election, but also for the triumph of Kim Kardashian West over Taylor Swift.
Speaking of the election, that will be a minefield for lists. MSNBC will come out with the “Worst Things Donald Trump Did in 2016” list on Dec. 15, while Fox News will release their list, “Worst Things Hillary Clinton Did in 2016,” the next day. Gee, this election sure has been one for the books! Not only have the candidates been controversial and divisive, but there have been a lot of memes made about them. Which brings me to my next list! Knowyourmeme.com revealed exclusively to me that they will release a list called “Every Meme About the Election You’ve Probably Forgotten About By Now.” Your two favorite things: more talk about the painful 2016 election and stale memes! Check it out; it’s coming out in late November; it’s being released in tandem with another list “Most Tired Memes of 2016.”
Though we dismissed her in the beginning of the year, Kylie Jenner was right when she said that 2016 would be the year of realizing stuff. One of the things the human population collectively realized was that Taylor Swift is a snake. There will be many lists coming out both about the Swift-Kardashian-West feud and Taylor herself. Some examples will be the “Worst Taylor Swift Moments of 2016” lists from various sources like People, CNN, Snapchat, Yahoo! and Mark Zuckerberg’s blog. Taylorswift.com will have its own list, “Best Taylor Swift Moments of 2016.” Just thought I’d mention it for the two people who are still Team Taylor.
These lists about 2016’s outstanding moments are most definitely noteworthy. However, I do recommend you keep an eye out for these lists as well: “Worst Costumes of 2016 NOT Worn on Halloween” from the Party City Newsletter (Dec. 1), “Best SNL Skits of 2016 that Definitively Prove SNL is Better Than Ever” from lornemichaels.com (Nov. 27), “Least Watched Music Videos of 2016” from Rolling Stone (Nov. 13) and “Worst Nip-Slips of 2016” from TMZ (Nov. 20). I’d also be remiss if I didn’t plug my own list that’s coming out Dec. 5: “Most Desperate-Looking Celebrity Fights of 2016.” I will post it on my website, www.lilyloveslists. com. Keep on keeping on, my fellow list lovers.