Do you like making lists? Have a lot of knowledge about a topic and want to spread said knowledge to the poor, ignorant masses? Want to let everyone know just what you think in a snappy, visually-appealing, and authoritative manner? Then Culturalist may just become your new internet haven.

Culturalist is a website devoted to top 10 lists, with topics ranging from Disney Films to the best New York City non-Belgian beer joints and everything in between. What separates Culturalist from other top ten sites, however, is that these lists are entirely user-generated. There are no official “experts” or disengaged magazine editors mindlessly compiling lists to generate sales; instead, lists are compiled by people with passion and experience in areas they are interested in. And the results are pretty awesome.

Jordan Roth, the mastermind behind Culturalist, was excited to talk about his brain child with this writer in an interview conducted this past Thursday. He spoke about Culturalist being a tool for “broadening and deepening the cultural conversation,” claiming that, while the site is ultimately aimed at everyone, he hopes it will attract “people who have passion and expertise in topics of culture.” He went on to say that his dream is for his website to become a center of cultural conversation, a place that people will visit daily and where one will be able to find “lists by everyone about… everything we think about in our culture.”

The website was in private beta for a while, and this writer was given the pleasure of perusing and familiarizing with it during that time. The website is well-organized and put together in a simple, user-friendly format that makes both searching for and creating lists a cinch. Lists are also made visually appealing through the inclusion of media for each listed item; a list creator can include almost any piece of media as an example for the listed item, including videos, pictures, and the writer’s personal favorite, GIFs. While comments are not an available means to interact with lists, users can make their own lists which are added to the aggregate, a sort of “list of lists” that, so far, include such topics as, “worst things I don’t like that everyone else seems to love.” Users also have the option to “like” individual lists and “follow” aggregates.

Culturalist launched into public beta today at 10:00 A.M., as was announced on their blog. Potential users can request an invitation to “join the conversation,” likening this initial vying for membership to the early days of Pinterest’s launch. Public beta is sure to bring in even more interesting content to the site that this writer is certainly excited about.

Ultimately, this website has a lot of potential and a great idea in mind. Talking about our culture keeps us engaged with it, allowing us to look at it critically and talk about it in an informed way. Any website that makes that more possible, accessible, and publicly accepted is a-okay in this writer’s book. Look forward to great things to come from Culturalist, and be sure to send in a request for an invite as soon as possible!

Image courtesy of Culturalist’s log-in page.