Power ranking responses to NBA Power Rankings

5. Don’t read article but react to someone else’s summary of it

This one isn’t necessarily bad either, but there are dangers to it. You have to be careful. That said, I do understand the temptation, and there are two main reasons for it.

Sometimes content is behind a paywall. Not everyone can afford subscriptions, despite the importance of supporting written content. When you can’t see the article itself, you have to rely on secondary sources. I would really like to go into details about how awful everything is and why, but that’s not appropriate here. I’ll just say it’s not your fault.

Also, it’s convenient. Power rankings, tier lists, articles in general can be long. Sometimes they go off track and talk about setting plates on fire. People watch highlights of games for a reason. Sometimes you just want to get to the good, important, relevant bits without churning through pontification or rationalization. I want the meat, and I want them immediately.

But again; be careful. Summaries can leave out eminently relevant context. You might be upset about where a team or player lands in a ranking, but maybe the author is ranking things based on different criteria than you would initially assume. It may not be how you would do the thing, but the way the thing was done may be entirely legitimate.

Also, controversy gets a lot of engagement. Summaries can also focus on the bits that seem most out of step with popular opinion. Missing the rest of the content can cloud one’s view of the whole piece.

Keep in mind this is just cliff notes, and it’s fine. Going all out on an abbreviation is the problem.