[hammock]

> Maybe I’m dating myself, but I was taught to start writing by coming up with an outline, which helps you organize your ideas into a coherent sequence. A list article basically makes its outline visible.

In that sense, listicles (as they are known) are a suboptimal/locally optimal solution to the lack of trust readers have, which was engendered by too much bad writing out there. Readers have learned to mistrust long articles that aren't obvious at a glance about the value they will provide.