You may have noticed that TTAG has launched a series of daily “listicles.” Some of the more vocal members of our Armed Intelligentsia have a different name for posts like Top 3 Reasons Not to Carry a Revolver and Top 3 Guns Guaranteed to Freak Out an Anti-Gunner “clickbait.”
They consider these articles sleazy and uninformative. While I fully admit that there’s a commercial motivation behind our listicles, I don’t accept that they represent a loss of editorial quality for America’s most prolific firearms website.
The topics covered by these posts — from the best caliber for armed self-defense to the best sub-compact 9mm carry guns — are important for gun owners. The level of conversation, debate, and controversy in the comments on these posts is the proof in the pudding.
That engagement and discussion is meaningful; we all learn from it. While we’ve covered many of these subjects in detail in full-on editorials, tips and reviews, “listicles” distill this critical information into a more digestible format — especially for new readers.
From our reader surveys, we know that TTAG’s regular readers are largely college-educated erudites. In this our eighth year of operation, we feel we have a pretty good handle on that market.
That said, we take nothing for granted. We will continue to carpet bomb with our usual content style — news, reviews and editorials — to satisfy that niche. But man does not live by long-form bread alone. Listicles present useful information into a quickly consumable, easily digestible format that many readers appreciate.
I want to thank the TTAG readers who care so much about this website that our listicles piss them off. Rest assured we’ll do our level best to create the web’s best gun-related “clickbait.” We’ll work hard to make sure the information provided is accurate, and that the logic underpinning our choices is sound. We will read your comments and incorporate your input where appropriate.
And as always, we welcome new writers. If you think you can do this as well or better — a not illogical supposition — please drop a sample to thetruthaboutguns@gmail.com with ‘SUBMISSION’ in the subject field. Meanwhile, thank you for your patience, passion and expertise. And there you have it: the top three reasons I love you guys (and gals)!