Gossip
Is all gossip bad?
According to researchers, everyone begins to gossip almost as soon as we learn to speak. It’s a part of human nature as word of mouth is joined by dozens of magazines, 50 television talk shows, five tabloids and now cyber gossip via Facebook, Twitter, and blogging.
Gossip performs important social and psychological functions to unify groups and give information to group members about the limits of acceptable behavior. It doesn’t make you a bad person to find comfort in the fact that the famous and thin thighed and gifted among us are just as miserable as the rest of us. If we read bad news about a celebrity or get into the gruesome details of our friend’s misery, our own problems begin to pale in comparison.
If you participate in gossip
Gossip is like fast food...juicy, delicious, and bad for you. If you gossip all the time, your friends might not trust you with their secrets. They might feel you’d sell them out for a good story to tell. Next time, just try walking away. If the person talked about is a friend of yours, stand by her and say you don’t believe it. Don’t repeat it.
If you are the target
While gossip boosts the self-esteem of those spreading it, creating a feeling of intimacy among the "in" group, and serving as an emotional release valve for expressing negative feelings, it doesn’t at all help the person they are talking about.
If you are the subject of a false rumor:
Often spreading gossip online leads to misinterpreting what’s being spread. Without hearing voice inflection, you can’t always tell if someone is making a joke or being sarcastic. Also, because it’s so easy to copy and pass along, your words might well be seen by dozens of unintended eyes
The best thing to do is ignore gossip because if you feed into it .it will only get worse. Act like it doesnt bother you and go on with your life because its life and it will happen again.
According to researchers, everyone begins to gossip almost as soon as we learn to speak. It’s a part of human nature as word of mouth is joined by dozens of magazines, 50 television talk shows, five tabloids and now cyber gossip via Facebook, Twitter, and blogging.
Gossip performs important social and psychological functions to unify groups and give information to group members about the limits of acceptable behavior. It doesn’t make you a bad person to find comfort in the fact that the famous and thin thighed and gifted among us are just as miserable as the rest of us. If we read bad news about a celebrity or get into the gruesome details of our friend’s misery, our own problems begin to pale in comparison.
If you participate in gossip
Gossip is like fast food...juicy, delicious, and bad for you. If you gossip all the time, your friends might not trust you with their secrets. They might feel you’d sell them out for a good story to tell. Next time, just try walking away. If the person talked about is a friend of yours, stand by her and say you don’t believe it. Don’t repeat it.
If you are the target
While gossip boosts the self-esteem of those spreading it, creating a feeling of intimacy among the "in" group, and serving as an emotional release valve for expressing negative feelings, it doesn’t at all help the person they are talking about.
If you are the subject of a false rumor:
- Try hard not to protest too much. That just reaffirms to the rumormongers that you are lying.
- Try to get through the day as if nothing were different. Finding who started it and getting revenge might feel good for a moment but will only result in getting you into trouble and making you look guilty. These responses are based on impulses, not careful thought. Try choosing how best to respond rather than just exploding with emotion.
- After finding out the truth, confront the person calmly. Let them try to explain. If you don’t get satisfaction, a trip to the guidance counselor might be in order.
- Time will heal. The rumor about you will soon be replaced with the next hot story of the week. Your composure might cause that rumor to die an early death.
Often spreading gossip online leads to misinterpreting what’s being spread. Without hearing voice inflection, you can’t always tell if someone is making a joke or being sarcastic. Also, because it’s so easy to copy and pass along, your words might well be seen by dozens of unintended eyes
The best thing to do is ignore gossip because if you feed into it .it will only get worse. Act like it doesnt bother you and go on with your life because its life and it will happen again.