TOP STORIES VS. MOST POPULAR

While visiting the multiple sites I surf daily to get my news, I discovered a new tool on cnn.com.

On the middle of the page, for as long as I can remember, there has been a list of about 10 headlines of the day’s top stories. Now, users can click on a tab above that list and view the 10 “most popular” stories on the site that day.

The page refreshes every 20 minutes so others can see what everyone else is reading or interested in.

It’s not a new technology, as sites like boston.com and nytimes.com has given “most popular” or “most e-mailed” lists more prominence on their sites within the past year, but it’s always interesting to see what the media outlets select as their top stories and what visitors to those sites actually read.

Most of the time, sex scandals or entertainment news dominates the “most popular” list, while North Korean nuclear tests lead the top stories.

Now that it’s easier than ever for media outlets to see what their visitors actually read, how soon will it be before those top stories are replaced by the ones that top the “most popular” list?

Stay tuned.