"Best Of" List Challenges: 5 Sites to Tick or Create Pre-Made Lists

I love "best of" lists. If it's a topic I don't know about, the lists serve as a way to get into that subject. For example, a list of the best EDM songs globally would be a nice way to understand that music. But the real fun is when you know the list's subject matter.

There's something about any sort of ranked list that is inherently challenging. You have an opinion about the list-maker, your competitive streak claiming you could make a better list. You also have a desire to go through the list and see how many things you can tick off.

If there is one thing the internet does not lack, it is opinions. Here are some of the best list-based sites, whether made by experts or amateurs, and even a couple of list-making apps.

1. Movie Mogul (Web): Movie Lists for Everyone

Naturally, the first list everyone wants to compare is about movies. For a lot of people, IMDb or Rotten Tomatoes are the guides to the best and worst movies of all time. But there are several other ways to form these lists. And Movie Mogul seems to have explored every one of those ways.

So it might be the best movies of 2016 or the list of the 88 Best Picture winners at the Oscars. Some lists are specific, like films directed by the Coen brothers, or the best biographical flicks in history. And there are even popular choices like the IMDb and Rotten Tomatoes lists.

Just click one list and start ticking the movies you've already seen. Share the list with friends and maybe you can watch some films together.

2. The Greatest Books (Web): How Many Have You Read?

There are plenty of ways to read a book in 2016, with each style having its own set of followers. But this is one discussion where the content trumps the delivery system. What you're reading matters a lot more than how you are reading it.

The Greatest Books uses its own algorithm to find the 100 best books in fiction and non-fiction, listing them with a short description. Go through the list and start reading them. You can download either list as a CSV file too.

Apart from these lists, the site also points you towards non-algorithm lists, like authors choosing their top 10 books or The Observer's list of the 100 best books ever. You'll have various ways to find new books to read at this site.

3. Ranker (Web): What People Say

Forget the experts and the "official" lists for a minute. Let's talk about what regular people have to say about lists. Ranker is a platform for anyone to create a list, and then others vote on it. And over time, it has built up a large database of crowd-sourced lists.

The lists break into categories like music, sports, movies, books, and many more. Find a section you like and start browsing. Plus, you can "rerank" any list by voting on its items, pushing them up or down the ranks.

Take a moment to sign up at Ranker because you'll love the results. Not only does this let you make your own lists, but it also personalizes the rankings. You will find the "overall" rankings, as well as the rankings by people in the same age group, gender, and region.

The bottom line is, Ranker lets you make lists, but the actual ranking can change. You don't get to make a permanently ranked list here. For that, you'll need List Challenges.

4. List Challenges (Web): Mark or Make

List Challenges has a simple purpose. Find a list you like and start checking it off, or create your own list that you share with others so they can check off items.

The nice part is that List Challenges is one of those excellent no-signup sites for everyday use. So you can start making your list in seconds, adding the items, a description, some images, and publishing it. Then just share the list's link with friends.

List Challenges restricts itself to movies, books, travel, and food as the four large categories. You're free to make a list with anything else and file it under "Other", but as far as browsing others' lists go, those four categories are your best bet.

5. Vulture's Best Of 2016 (Web): Master List of Year-End Lists

A lot of things happened in 2016 and it's possible you may have missed out on some of it. Most institutions and writers come up with year-end lists, looking back at the best of the previous year. Vulture magazine rounded up the most prestigious of these to create a master list of year-end lists.

The master list covers a wide array of topics such as music, movies, books, TV shows, automobiles, jobs, comics, video games, podcasts, art, theater, advertising, journalism, fashion, beauty, architecture, memes, business, comedy, colleges/universities, food, apps, gadgets, social media, travel, and celebrity. Each topic has several lists in that category, such as Forbes' best American colleges or Cosmopolitan's most lit beauty moments of 2016. There's something for everyone here, so find a list that speaks to you.

It isn't a formatted list for you to check off, unfortunately. So you'll have to go the manual way with this one. Choose a list app like Todoist, Any.Do, or Wunderlist and add the items from a list to it.