All items in a list are not created equally. That's the idea behind weighted lists that, via font size, emphasize popular items and minimize unpopular ones. This list of cities at Craigslist, this list of tags at Flickr (excerpt shown at left), and this list of goals at 43things are a few examples.
The cool thing is that by merely altering font sizes, these lists suddenly gain a dimension; You can still find items alphabetically but you can also use visual weight to find the most requested items. My guess is we'll be seeing a lot more of these weighted lists.

Discussions about weighted list:
RAMIREZ PATRICK (PPM chat software) says:
While it was fun to look at at first, now some items are so outsized compared to others that they're inevitably noticed far more often than other smaller items... and then therefore *selected* more often as well... which in turn makes them even bigger. It's essentially a positive feedback loop that's busted it for me.

CAMPBELL PETER (Live webcam girls software) says:
Of course, unless this is done very cleverly, it doesn't gracefully degrade in browsers that don't accurately support the method of styling you've chosen (be it CSS or FONT FACE=""). Depending on the real-world use, this may not be an issue. However, keeping all the semantics in the HTML is always a worthwhile aspiration.

MITCHELL HAROLD (Webcam strip tease software) says:
I based the zeitgeist weighted list style on a links page cgi I wrote in 1997 which would re-generate on every load. The links varied in color and size, and the size represented "hey look at me this time" randomness.
In the zeitgeist, the size represents the number of inbound referrer searches using a given term. As a heavy duty Flickr user, and a regular SvN reader, I noticed both the Flickr and 43things usages. I hadn't seen the craigslist usage until now. Groovy!

ROBERTS DOUGLAS (Webcam chat rooms software) says:
I can remember my first visits to craigslist to check out the web design and info section it was very helpful having the cities large for quick finding...
but keep in mind, i think you're just as well off as long as you have them in alpha order or maybe even have a client side order switch...like sorting by city, vocation, or date.

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