Category: Gossip

As humans, we often seek to find the imperfections of other people to make ourselves feel better. Salacious gossip about celebrity cheating scandals, chit-chat about new employees, or even conversations about a stingy neighbor occur daily and pique the interest of everyone. Researchers have confirmed that gossip is good for people, as it releases the hormone oxytocin and allows them to vent their frustrations. Although the goal of both Walter Winchell and Harvey Levin was not to gossip for their own health reasons, they shared the same objective of spreading shocking news purely as means of entertainment and their own personal gain.

Harvey Levin, founder of the celebrity news website TMZ , continued the gossip train Walter Winchell started. A major difference between the two, however, was the fact that Walter Winchell came from a background of extreme poverty while Levin was born into a middle class family and was well educated. When he was thirteen-years-old, Winchell dropped out of school to join a vaunderville troupe, an array of, “circuits, singing, dancing, and telling jokes, largely in the American backwaters” (Gabler American Heritage). According to the Whitman, News York Times, ‘Winchell rapidly learned personal and family background and gossip about others with him on the vaudeville circuit, and he took to posting such intelligence, neatly typed and punctuated and with often far-fetched puns, on theatre bulletin boards.” His analysis of people led him to leave the vaudeville circuit and turn to sharing gossip about celebrities through his newspaper columns. Winchell spread rumors, built and destroyed reputations, and created an adjoining network of gossip which ultimately built a loyal following for his articles. Levin who began his career in entertainment later in his life, started with a more intellectual background. After attending college and law school, he made his mark in California arguing the pros and cons of Proposition 13. His popularity led to a radio talk show in which he gave legal advice to callers. His coverage of the O.J. Simpson Trial in 1995 put the spotlight on him and gave him the opportunity to host People’s Court (Borchers The Washington Post). Finally, in 2005 Levin created the celebrity tabloid news website TMZ which is followed by 86% of Americans, similar to Winchell’s posts which captivated two-thirds of the nation’s population (Petersen Chicago Tribune). Although they had different ways of achieving their goals, their passion for the media led both men to deliver the most popular means of gossip in America. Winchell and Levin did not necessarily want to ruin the reputation of celebrities as much as they wanted the public to enjoy a new, intriguing form of entertainment that was not present in any other news industry at that time.

Like hard news reporters, Winchell and Levin met with their U.S. Presidents to discuss world issues. Franklin D. Roosevelt invited Winchell to the Oval Office to discuss his New Deal because he wanted to use Winchell’s popularity to his advantage. FDR gave Winchell “news tidbits and encouragement for the columnist’s vitriolic attacks on the ‘Ratskis, (Nazis)’” (Whitman New York Times). On the other hand, Levin’s political career was not as long-term. President Trump invited Levin to the White House, although their conversation was more mysterious than informative, “Both (Trump and Levin) spoke on condition of anonymity to share details of their conversations that were intended to be private” (Grynbaum New York Times). In both case, the presidents used Levin and Winchell for their popularity, and Levin and Winchell used the presidents to further their careers.

Obtaining celebrity information is very difficult because it involves being at the right place at the right time. When beginning his gossip-reporting career, Winchell overheard intriguing conversations he included in his articles. As he became more popular, however, he paid a team of people called “neWWsboy” to find interesting facts about celebrities (Whitman New York Times). These scouters would unearth the salacious gossip and report it to Winchell. In a similar way, Levin and TMZ as a corporation pays outsiders who have details about a story. Contrarily, Levin has the advantage of using social media and the internet and a source to use in his articles.

Gossip, whether it comes from the internet or from word of mouth, sells newspapers, magazines and advertisements; it is a way for those of us to know the juicy details of the rich and famous people’s personal lives. Winchell and Levin made their money delivering those goods. Winchell, the father of gossip, and Levin, the current king who has picked up that gauntlet for the twenty-first century, have made celebrities’ personal information public knowledge.

Gossip as a form of entertainment has embedded itself into our culture, telling the world of the good, the bad, and the sordid details of the lives of those who are constantly in the news.

At some point in your career, you will encounter certain problematic behaviors and issues that are rampant in many offices, regardless of what line of work you may belong to.

In this case, we are going to talk about gossip

According to The Balance Careers, gossip usually starts as a trivial thing since it stems from either boredom, wherein people have nothing better to do than gossip about each other. Also, most employees and employers often find it hard to find the difference between gossip and mindless chit chat so many of their chats compose of small topics like the company, their daily encounters — which eventually evolves into big issues like pet peeves, lying, and other direct attacks about their co-workers and their bosses. It seems as if no office in the world is immune to rumors and gossip, which can eventually lead to negative effects such as misunderstandings, miscommunications, office fights, etc.

Although many people enjoy hearing certain news about someone else, there are individuals who cannot stand their chatty colleagues who talk about things and topics that aren’t really their business, or are in no way related to them.

According to Career Addict, gossip within the workplace does not bring any good news as it can only hurt multiple parties, and some even lead to drastic responses like harassment and bullying.

How does gossip impact workplace culture negatively?

According to the FIrst Cry Parenting website, there are many negatives that revolve around gossip since not only does it hurt other people, but it can also isolate employees from one another — which eventually creates an unfriendly or hostile and tense atmosphere within the office.

Gossip can also lead to workplace harassment, especially if it gets out of hand since there are times when words aren’t enough. Some employees make it a point to downright bully their colleagues, physically. Workplace gossip potentially leads to more conflict and fights, as well as possibly leading to the development of mental health conditions such as trauma, depression, and anxiety for the victims.

Furthermore, The Balance Careers says that the best way to handle gossip is when the issue gets out of hand and starts to disrupt the entire workplace and the overall business, starts to hurt employees’ or colleagues’ feelings, begins to damage interpersonal relationships within the office place, and places the company’s morale in a bad light.

If you think that your office place is slowly getting torn apart by gossip and you want to finally put an end to it, listed below are several ways you can avoid and get rid of office gossip.

Dealing with gossip and false rumors within the workplace

1. Review company policy

Should the gossip develop into a big problem for everyone within the workplace, reviewing the company’s policies about certain attitudes is the first step to preventing gossip from destroying companies and fights between employees.

However, if your company doesn’t have certain policies, it’s time to create a policy that directly handles this area, all from the inclusions to consequences.

2. Institute a zero-tolerance policy

Meanwhile, another way you can prevent gossip within the workplace is by firmly incorporating a zero-tolerance policy regarding negative behavior, particularly with gossip.

According to Career Addict, one way you can do this is by firing an employee after conducting an exhaustive investigation and having given warnings. ‘There is no place for the perpetual gossipers in any corporate venture because they threaten the livelihood of others,’ adds the website.

3. Conduct team-building activities

On the other hand, First Cry Parenting says that one way you can stop gossip within the workplace is by conducting team-building activities to bring employees closer to one another.

If certain colleagues feel distant with one another, team-building activities are the perfect way they can build their relationship with each other as they are fun and effective ways to enable employees to get to know each other better.

4. Send written warnings directly

Warning your employees is also another way to stop gossip since this can help them reflect on their character. According to the First Cry Parenting website, instead of broadcasting the warning to your employee, send them a written mail warning to remind them of the office’s policies regarding gossip and other negative behaviors.

5. Encourage privacy

Lastly, encouraging privacy is another way to ultimately stop gossip. Since oversharing of information within the office leads to gossip, it’s better to encourage employees to discuss private and difficult matters with the management or to the supervisor in order to keep things private and confidential among co-workers and colleagues.

Overall, gossip is a life-long habit that needs to be broken and stopped since it is a destructive behavior that can cause negative consequences for both gossipper and the victim/s. According to The Balance Careers, besides conducting the steps stated above, other ways you can handle and deal with gossip properly is by turning the situation into a learning experience for both affected parties through a coaching approach.

However, when things get too messy, the website says that the management should be involved where there should be serious talks between the gossiper and their respective manager or supervisor. Although if the employee still continues to gossip even after participating in the coaching, employers should then consider firing the said employee since you need to create a healthy working environment that does not tolerate gossip and other kinds of negative attitudes.

It’s hard to imagine an office without them. ‘Have you heard that …?’ ‘Did you see what he said …?’ Such a simple phrase can be the introduction of a series of gossip often followed by an illusionist ‘but do not tell anyone.’ They are the classic gossip at work.

There is no return to give. Gossiping can turn the most introverted fellow into a real conversation.

There are different degrees of gossip, so to speak. It’s one thing to comment on a third when you meet a friend and talk about your classmates in general. Another thing is the rumor that the focus is on a person and sold as if it were a truth.

In other words, the first type of gossip is to comment on a person’s privacy, even if that person did not intend to share that information with anyone. Another thing is to comment and encourage the spread of a rumor that no one knows if it’s true or not; but he begins to roll and is fueled by misinterpretations.

Not everything is so bad with gossip at work

Professor Birgit At least from the University of Lüneburg has published a book on the cultural history of gossip. There, he says gossiping at work also has a positive function, as it helps reduce tension in a very stressful time or give ‘herbs’ to a rather awkward work schedule.

In addition, as noted by at least the authors, the effect is very clear: the gossip groups generate cohesion, because if someone speaks ‘in secret’ of a third, he believes that the link with his interlocutor is strengthened.

But only the elements that seem very positive live to separate. The coherence that can generate a rumor among those who share it is based on the exclusion of someone who is at the center of gossip.

Can you stop commenting on the rumors?

It’s hard If someone is not part of the rumors, you can be excluded and not learn more about many things or even become gossip about others.

Many people join golf for this reason. He wants to be on the side of those who speak, within the group that creates cohesion, and not those who are designated. But is it really the best attitude?

Some team coaches say that when you start working in a new place, it’s best to talk to others about your privacy. because it tends to prevent rumors from being generated because of a lack of information.

And how to react if you are in the middle of gossip?

In general, if you are well integrated, you usually do not have this problem or you can have a friend who stops what is said within the group.

But what attitude is it recommended to take? In some cases, it is good to ignore the problem. In other cases, it is good to react, especially if the rumor causes a lot of damage. You can go directly to this person to see what is going on. Another alternative would be, if it is a highly corrosive rumor, to raise the issue on appeal.

But in the end, gossiping at work is like so many other things in life: a little, that’s good, but if you leave, it can ruin everything.

Throughout the story “The piece of string”, many would agree that the overall message shows the effects that gossip can have on someone and how others can be blind about the truth. This is demonstrated by the use of hyperbole, setting, and characterization. To begin, the act of no one believing in Maitre Hauchecome after trying to prove his innocence, causes him to encounter stress and be filled with anger as well as confusion. This is shown towards the end of the short story where his exhaustion and efforts that seem to be useless (in trying to prove the truth), leads him to death; “ He died in the first days of January and in the delirium of his death struggles, he kept claiming his innocence” (Maupassant, 35).

Although Maitre Hauchecome did result in dying, Maupassant expresses Hauchecome’s death as a form of exaggeration. Maitre Hauchecome did not physically die because of his stress in trying to prove his point, but it was displayed in this way to show that although gossip and blind suspicion cannot kill you, it can have a big impact on you and the way you proceed through life. Another way the effects of blind suspicion and gossip are demonstrated is through the setting. “The piece of string” takes place in a village of Goderville, in northern France. The plot of the story occurs on market day, in the public square of town. Maupassant unveils the setting with sensory information to show the hustle and bustle of the village. This was evident as Maitre Hauchecome “ was soon lost in the noisy and slowly moving crowd, which was busy with interminable bargainings” (Maupassant, 30). Mausspant describes the setting as noisy and busy with people crowding everywhere which can indicate that this village is small. Gossip is known to spread very quickly. Because the village is small, the gossip and rumour of Maitre Hauchecome taking the wallet is widely known by everyone in the village. This is what further caused Maitre Hauchecome’s reputation to ruin because of how fast this gossip had spread and affected his life.

Lastly, Maupassant uses characterization to indicate how blind suspicion can be displayed. The main characters throughout this story are the protagonist, Maitre Hauchecome and the antagonist, Maitre Malandain. Mausspant describes both characters as “being both good haters” (Mausspant, 30) which conveys that the two hate each other so much, they are good at it. This is one of the factors that helped Malandain suspect that Hauchecome was guilty of something. Since he and Hauchecome were already enemies and Hauchecome looked suspicious when he picked up the string, it was predictable that Malandain would find an opportunity to make things harder for Hauchecome. This was an example of blind suspicion as Malandain mistakes the suspicion of Hauchecomes action and does not state proof. Overall, the three narrative elements and literary device demonstrate the effects that gossip and blinds suspicion can have on someone just as it did for Maitre Hauchecome.

Introduction

Rumours and gossip are integrated into our everyday lives with almost two-thirds of conversations held in relation to social topics and having ties to a third party (Kiran, et al., 2018). It is because of this that it is impossible to separate it from organisational life (Baskin & Aronoff, 1989). While spreading rumours and gossip is aggressive behaviour, it also carries an array of benefits.

Gossip

Kurland & Pelled (2000) defined gossip as “informal and evaluative talk in an organization, usually among no more than a few individuals, about another member of that organization who is not present”. Gossip often contains information which is not entirely accurate or may even be falsified. Suls (1977) observes that gossip occurs when an individual has a need for attention and promoting themselves. It has been concluded that a person will gossip in times of environmental ambiguity (DiFonzo & Bordia, 2007).

Gossip is used to inform, entertain and influence (Dunbar, 2004). Rosnow (1977) suggested that gossip may be used to spread relevant information throughout an organisation. While it has been stated that gossip may lead to an environment of mistrust and lack of productivity, it is also worth noting that it can strengthen organisational friendships and may even improve health. (Van Iterson & Clegg, 2008).

Broadly, these are depicted as information, influence and entertainment (Rosnow, 1977). The first of these represents an attempt by individuals to better understand their social environment. The second function builds on the first by addressing the utilisation of information to the individual’s benefit. Some contend, for instance, that gossip within organisations may provide a ‘survival mechanism’ in that it could be one means of humanising bureaucratic structures (Gabriel, 1991). One tangible outcome of this may be related to alleviating excessive levels of employee stress (Mishra, 1990, p. 223). Finally, rumour or gossip may have entertainment value for its own sake. It has been argued that engaging in gossip is an act which can generate pleasure or satisfaction for those involved (Gabriel, 1995; Haviland, 1977).

Rumour vs Gossip

Tebbutt and Marchington (1997) suggest that rumour and gossip are quite similar and may even be used interchangeably. They can be taken to mean ‘informal communication transmitted to another person or persons, irrespective of whether or not the communication has been established as fact’. Paper. While gossip is more prevalent between friends, rumour is more public and spread between acquaintances. Gossip is related to issues or events concerning a small group while a rumour can extend beyond this as it would be of interest to a larger audience (Rosnow and Fine, 1976).

While the functions of rumour are identical to that of gossip, the motivations are different. The four main motives of gossip are to depict the hopes of the people spreading them, fear, ambiguity and aggression (Mishra, 1990).

Do Females or Males Gossip More?

Originally the word “gossip” was used positively to describe a godparent at a child’s baptism. The meaning began to evolve to denote the mother’s female friends at the baptism and became linked with the casual chat they took part in (Room, 1996). Historically, there were different roles for men and women in the birth process. It was the female’s job to inform anyone who not present of the birth (Rysman, 1977). Gossip begun to have a negative stigma attached to it by the Elizabethan period. Gossip became attached to the female role and anecdotes, proverbs and caricatures were created as a form of humour. Female gossip was referred to as “idle talk” while male gossip was referred to as “shop talk” or “shooting the breeze” (Rosnow and Fine, 1976). If both sexes were engaged in talking too much, a female would be labelled as a gossip whereas a male would be called ‘and old woman’ (Rysman, 1977).

In the past it was primarily the female who was scorned for gossiping. Today, there does not appear to be gender differences in the frequency, tone or content of gossip (Bergmann, 1993).

Aggression

Positive benefits

It is assumed that spreading gossip and rumours derive from negative intentions but this is not always the case. A study stated that they may be linked with the evolution of human intelligence and social life (Dunbar, 2004). Gossip impacts our health in many ways. Benefits of rumour and gossip include the release of stress, the ability to express emotions, reduction of anxiety and reduction of uncertainty. Gossip acts as a means to share information and knowledge within an organisation all the while improving relations (Waddington and Michelson, 2007). When a person hears bad news their heart beats faster, this can be alleviated by sharing the news with someone else. As well as this, it can improve humour and self-esteem. Gathering and sharing information promotes the production of serotonin in the brain which is a natural antidepressant (Feinberg et al (2014).

Strength of friendships

When a negative rumour is shared with someone, it can be concluded that this person has placed trust in the other. Rosnow (2001) states that “a piece of information that ends up being a gossip advocates the involvement of trust between the parties thus claiming close relation or friendship tie”. Workers with a close relationship tend to one another tend to engage in negative gossip while workers without a relationship don’t tend to share any kind of gossip. Paper

The person who shares more positive or negative gossip will have more informal influence among co-workers in the organization Grosser et al. (2010) believes that gossip maintains and strengthens relationships while needing a high level of loyalty and trust.

Other researchers go further and posit that gossip helps preserve group solidarity and formal structures at work (Noon and Delbridge, 1993). Since gossip tends to take place between friends or within particular functional groupings within organisations, gossiping reinforces the social bond of the participants. This suggests ‘that gossip is not merely idle talk, but talk with a social purpose’ (Rosnow and Fine, 1976, p. 91). Personal friendships or social groups are indicative of active channels of informal communication (Festinger et al., 1948; Mishra, 1990; Sutton and Porter, 1968).

Based on Colson and Paine’s concept, Noon and Delbridge (1993) further argued that gossip involves power-play as gossipers are able to achieve dominance or self-promotion. Similarly, Kurland and Pelled (2000) proposed that an individual is able to attain different types of interpersonal power by engaging in gossip. For example, they posited that an individual is able to obtain reward and expert power by engaging in positive gossip and receive coercive power by engaging in negative gossip.

Furthermore, gossip provides groups a mechanism for neutralizing the dominance tendencies of those who might attempt to compromise the groups’ interests (Boehm, 1999). McAndrew, Bell, and Garcia (2007) supported this view by stating that group norms could be strengthened when group members engage in gossip because social control might be needed in order to share private information.

Conclusion

Gossip is part of every culture worldwide even if its forms may be different. It is futile to ban or punish it because the managerial regulations frequently result in an opposite effect.

The question is whether gossip must really be stopped? As mentioned before, gossips do have positive consequences, which is true under working conditions as well. It may inspire co-operation, put light on good workforce, and eliminate workplace abuse – as it was found in the researches of Stanford University (Parker, 2014). It is true that gossip leaves space for misuse, but research findings show that gossiping may have really important functions in community life. As for its roles in privacy, the power of gossip has been confirmed pro et contra by many researches, but its consequences at the workplace has not frequently been researched (Yi, 2015). If a manager regularly provides information, the occurrence and negative effects of gossip may be reduced to a minimum.

Bibliography

1. Baskin, O., & Aronoff, C. (1989). Interpersonal communication in organizations. Santa Monica, CA: Goodyear.
2. Davis, K. (1953). Management communication and the grapevine. Harvard Business Review, (September-October), 43-49
3. DiFonzo, N., & Bordia, P. (2007). Rumor psychology: Social and organizational approaches. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
4. Hennessy, K. (2008), “Faculty and employee assistance program newsletter”, available at: www. healthsystem.virginia.edu/internet/feap/newsletters/workplace-gossip.pdf (accessed 8 October 2019).
5. Kurland, N. B., & Pelled, L. H. (2000). Passing the word: Toward a model of gossip and power in the workplace. Academy of Management Review, 25(2), 428-438.
6. Rosnow, R. L. (1977). Gossip and marketplace psychology. Journal of Communication, 27(1), 158-163.
7. Suls, J. M. (1977). Gossip as social comparison. Journal of Communication, 27(1), 164-168.
8. Van Iterson, A., & Clegg, S. (2008). The politics of gossip and denial in interorganizational relations. Human relations, 61(8), 1117-1137.

It is human nature to gossip. Every day, people are introduced to news about celebrities, movie stars, and colleagues. While some of this information might be important, most of what people hear from others is baseless information that is meant to create a certain perception about the one being talked about. In most instances, gossip is not meant to be harmful. However, gossip has negative effects, especially in instances where it is being used to taint the image and reputation of someone else. There are several causes and negative impacts of gossip.

People gossip to feel superior. As stated by Izuogu (2009), gossip is any form of derogator and unconstrained conversation about others. Most individuals that talk about other do not feel good about themselves and they choose to talk about others as a way of making others appear worse than them. This can be done through spreading sensitive information or making harmful judgments about others. Gossipers rarely think about the feelings of those they talk about, which makes it easier for them to talk ill about those they consider friends (Baron, & Richardson, 2011). The only way through which such individuals can feel good about themselves is if they paint others in a negative light.

Gossip also stems out of boredom. When people are in a social gathering, they tend to look for interesting topics to talk about. However, there are instances when it becomes impossible for such individuals to generate captivating conversation topics that are based on shared knowledge and ideas. This often gives rise to gossip as it is considered as one of the best ways through of rousing their interest (Cole & Scrivener, 2013). While some of this gossip may be founded on topics that affect them all, most folks choose to use this platform to talk ill of those they do not like. This might include a public figure, a grumpy waitress, or a former friend. Once they have come up with an interesting subject to gossip about, this group of people makes fun and derogatory remarks about others without caring about them.

Certain individuals gossip for attention and to feel as part the group. Divulging a certain piece of information about others often makes one the center of attraction for a period of time (Cole & Scrivener, 2013). This is despite the fact that giving out this type of information only allows one to gain the attention of others for a short span of time before they turn their attention to other news. Furthermore, divulging information about others allows the gossipers to feel as if they belong to a certain group. However, it is very unfortunate that most social groups tend to avoid individuals that are very quick to divulge private information about other, as they are also likely to divulge their information with others. Attempting to chitchat about others could therefore lead to one losing out on making friends and associates.

One of the negative effects of unfounded chatter is social isolation. This does not necessarily imply that the gossiper will be physically isolated, but it would be more difficult for such a person to make any meaningful friends. While people may continue talking and associating with such a person, their reputation as a gossiper will result in most people fearing to associate with them (Izuogu, 2009). Gossip does reflect negatively on an individual, and can result in one being resented by others.

Constantly gossiping about others makes it difficult for one to be trusted. Talking about others relentlessly is a precursor of being untrustworthy. This means that even though people might choose to talk to the gossiper, they will always hesitate to tell about anything serious. This fear is founded on the notion that if one finds it easy to talk about their enemies, then they would still find it easy to talk about those they consider friends (Izuogu, 2009). Lack of trust would lead to friends, classmates, colleagues, and even family members choosing not to tell one anything that they fear would be used as gossip.

For centuries, celebrity focused magazines otherwise known as ‘tabloids’ lining grocery stores stands and newsstand racks all over the country, have been used as the source of celebrity gossip since Americans seemed to be so much invested in such topics (Davies,2005). The 21st century saw the growth of many of these tabloids that they crowded the industry, but they still had so many sales giving so much profit. In the beginning of the year 2005, there was a sudden change in this genre with the sales taking a downward spiral. Economic woes are major contribution to the decrease in sales that this genre experienced. This reduction in sales did not mean that the major public in celebrity gossip had declined, but the conveniently available online sources on celebrity gossip played a major role in this reduction since, people prefer to just turn on their internet connection and get all the gossip there is on a certain celebrity instead of, having to go to the newspaper stand for this information. Online sources have incredibly challenged the conventional way in which celebrity consuming audience take up celebrity gossip, how it is produced and circulated. Gossip blogs are the new breed of online content on the lives of celebrities that has completely taken advantage of the social and technological possibilities that new media has offered. These blogs are not just online gossip sites since they offer the latest on what is happening in celebrity’s lives thickly coated with the bloggers commentary and also an interactive platform that enables the audience to participate actively. These celebrity gossip blogs have vastly established themselves as the new media sensation transforming the existing celebrity culture .This work looks at the impact of the technological and textual shifts engendered by new media on the use of gossip as a platform of everyday cultural production.

The vastly spread availability of the weblog software that is very user friendly and also available online for free simply means that any individual in the worlds who feels they have something to say can just start a blog as long as there is an internet connection available. A further distinction is however created in that the fact that someone has an online presence doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a blog. Creator of one of the first blogs Cameron Barrett says that “48home pages are places where you put pictures of your family and your cats. It‘s a place to distribute information to a close circle of family and friends. Weblogs, however, are designed for an audience. They have a voice. They have a personality. Simply put, they are an interactive extension of who you are (Barrett, 2002).meaning that the blog should be a representation of the persons interest, thoughts and ideas with the constant assumption that there is a form of relationship that exists between the blogger and the audience.it is not just an informative platform but it’s a place where the blogger gets to interact with the audience and the audience interact with each other based on the fact that they share a common interest. This therefore makes it important to carefully discern one’s type of content that leads to the many blogs subgenres. Celebrity gossip blog therefore have come to term with this new media and have focused on only one particular content and that is majorly focusing on celebrity culture.

Most of gossip blogs are individually owned and more often than not, it resembles the authors personality. This is a very important element is gossip blogs since it a representation of the bloggers sardonic thoughts and commentaries plays a crucial role in the in drawing the audience to read that piece of work regarding celebrity’s culture. This just means the audience do not usually just want the latest news on their favorite celebrity, because they can get it anywhere else in the internet,( Baym, 2006) they want to enjoy how the blogger frames the story so as to be able to picture that celebrity through the blogger’s commentary.

For the case of multi authored blogs, gossip blogs tend to maintain this individual voice when it comes to framing the celebrity culture, but at the end of the day it is in line with the blog and not necessarily the individual blogger. A very good example is exhibited in popsugar.com blog. These blogs are seen to be written by to different authors and the name of the author who did that post is normally outlined and kept in the first-person voice at all times (Davies,2005). This therefore brings out a more individualized kind of blog that is in textual address. There are other blogs such as asocialitelife.com that usually lists their editors separately and give individual blogger credit on the different post they authored ( Baym, 2006). Even though there are multiple authors in these group blogs, they all maintain an individual opinion in each of their work but they still get to maintain a certain form of coherence in their celebrity gossip culture which is the main definitive feature.

New media has blurred the distinction that there is between the production and the consumption of texts, making a challenge for the world of celebrity culture that is structured and often controlled (Chayko,2002). This has made it relevant in the contemporary celebrity culture. Most of the celebrity watching audience tend to be active and want to participate in the making and remaking process of the celebrity through the constant consumption of the extra-textual and textual content.in the real-world gossip talk is seen to be an interpretive activity working to reshape a celebrity’s image mainly in the positive ways. Online form of gossiping blog is however, different in that it makes an emphasis on the audience participation and interaction in the most unprecedented ways. The large number of existing gossip blogs are not entirely limited to celebrity, (Chayko,2002) there are quite a number of unofficial fan sites that are mainly grounded on gossip talk through the technological capabilities making them be able to connect with each other through the celebrity’s image.

From revealing breaking news on well known actors as well as outing celebrity’s mental breakdown or pregnancies, gossip blogs are a major component in the celebrity culture. Perez Hilton is known as one of the most influential gossip bloggers and her posts attracts up to seven million hits on a daily basis. These gossip blogs are tasked with reporting the glamorous, scandalous, and normal daily activities carried out by celebrities at a fast pace that the conventional celebrity magazine is just struggling to level up. These bloggers usually have the power to undermine a celebrity image that had been well cultivated effortlessly over the years. Nowadays celebrities are not only seen as figures to offer inspiration to the society but they are seen as figures to be deconstructed through judgment (Fernback,2007). Gossip bloggers have become the producer and consumer of these celebrity gossip, offering guidance in which the audience can use in deriding the celebrity

Unlike celebrity gossip magazines, gossip blogs are not limited by thee journalistic standards and neither are then stories substantiated or the source verified the truth in the story. Most of these gossip bloggers prefer to keep their identity anonymous and mainly relies on members of the public to provide them with the content that they will just post without any form of attribution whatsoever. Some are however, some do not mind having to put their identity on their blog post, like Paris Hilton the self-proclaimed queen of new media.

Gossip blogs are seen to incorporate both visual and print elements from their print pioneers. They also engage in participation and interactive possibilities as a way of making the gossip blog to be a space that enables cultural production. The immediate and interactive nature of blogs bring producers and audiences together in a gossip-based community in previously unprecedented ways that necessarily shifts research on gossip reading and meaning making practices. Gossip bloggers and their audiences are still using celebrity images as a way of negotiating the social ideas that they have and identities through engaging in gossip talk (Elm,2009).

Confined in the historical form of gossip media offering its audiences supposedly unlimited access to all the authentic and private celebrity gossip blog. Most of the time these gossip blogs tend to challenge the consumption, production and circulation of these celebrity images in a widely contemporary culture. The technological aspects of gossip blogs especially in terms of participation and immediacy, they offer the best points of entry into this celebrity’s culture and thereby creating a foreground for most of the interests of their audience. Technological features, have made it possible for the social function of gossip blogs to be possible resulting in the buildup of a community based on the construction of a certain shared meaning that mainly takes center stage. As (Turner 2004), gossip about celebrities is “an important social process through which relationships, identity, and social and cultural norms are debated, evaluated, modified and shared,” thereby connecting gossipers in a really interpretive social community.

Most of the time gossip bloggers rely heavily on the availability of the internet to be able to create these blogs. They need to heavily surf the web for major content that can attract the audience attention, be able to comfortable use photoshop in conjunctions with other software programs to be able to manipulate the different images. These bloggers are also enjoying the benefit of being able to quickly and easily update their own sites (Bird, 2003). They are neither journalist nor do they work for any established outlet. Internet technology has also made it is capable thee fact that one can easily and quickly engage in the latest gossip put up on the blog without having to go to the newsstand after waiting for a whole week for the news to be officially published (Bird, 2003)

Female celebrities have now been accustomed to this type of policing by the bloggers and the audience have become used to it as part of the contemporary celebrity culture. The gossip blogs with its technological features has made it an important need in the production, consumption and circulation, of these celebrity images. This form of digital technology has made it possible for celebrity to be copied, replayed, circulated and downloaded at most parts. This new media technology is important because it has enabled the audience to see the real individual without having to hide behind the stardom mask through a series of regular surveillance of the celebrity in their unguarded form, making them be in there most natural environment portraying the real them.

References

1. Barrett, C. (2002). More about weblogs. In J. Rodzvilla(Ed.), We’ve got blog: How weblogs are changing our culture(pp. 25-27). Cambridge, MA: Perseus Publishing.
2. Baym, N. K. (2006). Interpersonal life online. In L. Lievrouw, & S. Livingstone (Eds.), The handbook of new media: Social shaping and social consequences of ICTs(2nd ed., pp. 35-54). London and New York: Sage Publications.
3. Bird, S. E. (2003). The audience in everyday life:Living in a media world. New York: Routledge.
4. Chayko, M. (2002). Connecting:How we form social bonds and communities in the internet age. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.
5. Davies, J. (2005, September 3). Gluttons for gossip: Celebrity magazines like In Touch, US have exploded in popularity. The San Diego Union-Tribune, pp. C-1.
6. Elm, M.S. (2009). How do various notions of privacy influence decision in qualitative internet research? In A.N Markham & N.K. Baym (Eds.), Internet inquiry(pp. 69-87). Los Angeles: Sage Publications.
7. Fernback, J. (2007). Beyond the diluted community concept: A symbolic interactionist perspective on online social relations.New Media & Society, 9, 49-69.

Introduction to the issue/ problem

You are a single parent with three young children. Your spouse has just passed away recently due to a motor-road accident. At work, you heard people are talking about your company being downsized and some of the employees will need to resign very soon. You asked some of your colleagues about this. Rita, Shidi and Janet said that the news is true since the company is in a lot of debts now. However, according to Zana, Ramli and Jamil, the news is just a gossip; the company is still in good shape. You are so worried and do not know whether to wait or to apply for a job somewhere else. From this statement, we can identify there is two type of gossip one is good gossip and one is bad gossip, however, we still can’t tell who fall into good and bad gossip group. This paperwork is to identify how we going to find a solution to handle the gossip.

Good Gossips

Everywhere there are people there are gossip. Especially in a company where social and cultural groups are gathering and rapid change is experienced, gossip flourishes. Gossip can be defined as “unverified and used as tools for relevant information statements in circulation that arise in contexts of ambiguity, danger or potential threat and that function to help people make sense and manage risk” (DiFonzo and Bordia 2007).In this case according to Zana, Ramli and Jamil, the news is just gossip; the company is still in good shape.

Bad Gossips

When we hear gossip about management turning to reduce manpower as the first way to cut labor costs, it can result in gossip being spread about the fate of remaining employees. In a small business, gossip can spread quickly. Current staff members are unsure as to the stability of their jobs and morale begins to drop. If gossip persists, then the drop in morale can develop into a loss in productivity and employee turnover. These issues can be seen where Rita, Shidi and Janet said that the news is true since the company is in a lot of debt now.

Worried

People experience personal distress during a hearing company downsizing. This distress can include illness, low energy, lack of motivation, difficulty in focusing, accidents, and interpersonal conflict between co-workers&family. Often individuals blame themselves for being weak or for their inability to handle the situation. Sometimes organizations label people as resistors when, in reality, people move through the stages of change at different rates. How an organization introduces change has created an impact as well. “People don’t mind change; they mind being changed,” is a statement that organizations need to take to heart. During layoffs, employees’ experience is changed. Thus, ownership of the changes is more difficult to create. People form deep attachments with their coworkers, their workgroups, their companies, their organizational structures and systems, their personal responsibilities, and their ways of accomplishing work. When anything that is important or close to employees is disturbed it will create stress, whether by personal choice or through a larger organizational process over which normally they have no control, a transition period will occur. During this transition, people can expect to experience a period of letting go of the old ways as they begin moving toward and integrating the new.

Explain how you can judge to accept or reject the reasons.

Why I should reject

Some people gossip because they love and enjoy it or they feel insecure about other coworkers’ success in the workplace. Most gossipers are normally pure attention-seekers. A persistent and long-term gossiper must be stopped or can be labeled it as bullies to avoid potential damage of reputation to others and the company. This coursework is solely focused on what we as an individual can do to protect both our self and our career. Never participate. Simply walking away from the gossip can prove to be the best answer. If someone passes a juicy story on to us; we should not spread it any further. We need to act and take personal responsibility to act with integrity and start moving.

Insecure

At their core gossips are tragically insecure. Everyone, including us, is a threat to their sense-of-Self. Gossips have poor on ego development and tend to be emotionally not stable. They are quick to blame someone and lack responsibility. They like to do the least amount of damage for the most gain, believing any extra work given or responsibility required on them is unfair and unjust and their like to compare with other coworkers. They view everyone as having a reason to make them fail, causing the gossip to live on the defensive. They feel justified to take down anyone they see as a threat. It can be Rita, Shidi, and Janet or Zana, Ramli, and Jamil are feeling insecure about my success.

This has been said, knowledge is power. Unfortunately, many people like to talk about information or information about others, whether true or not. This is called chatter. Whatever name is used, people hurt themselves, feel good and feel empowered over others. The truth is less interesting, so people choose to chat. But talking about others tears lives and breaks hearts. Gossip can also cause bullying, and bullying can cause injury problems.

Gossip seriously affects the population. Almost every day new gossip is happening. And the world feeds on this information. It causes policy problems. For example the history of America and the wall between Mexico. Trump has started to say that he is going to build a wall between Mexico. But during the months that he said these things, he did not say that Mexico will pay. The gossip of the public is an assumption that Trump said that Mexico will pay. So Trump to change is words and to start saying that Mexico will pay. And these actions contributed to the closure of the government. It forced thousands of people not to go there in December and January. The city of Washington began to corrupt because of lack of money. The reason behind all this was Trump copying a rumor/gossip. This example shows how gossip can destroy the world. The negative consequences begin to increase each day. Scientists (CBC) studies show that 41% of global problems start with gossip. This is increasing every day.

The punishments in class we revised we were on the side of physical injuries (like burns) but not mental so a proper punishment may be put in a circle where people laugh at you and talk about lied about you. The reason is that it’s going to impact them or mentally and be making them think of how it feels to be told the lies. The rules will be strict for everyone because the gossip starts most party at the age of 12 to adults, and that’s right. It will solve this malice logically because it’s just the chatter you made pouring on you. CBC research says, people can only be educated of bad thing only if it is happening to itself. In conclusion, this punishment is good to use for chatter.

Gossip connections are very big. It happens almost all. See him here at the Sherwood every day, and that chatter begins the fighting. On TV shows chatter is seen almost daily like the TV series ’13 rase why’. The series explains a life of a young woman who had committed suicide, leaving behind recorded tapes that involved twelve people. The story had a little reference to Amanda Todd too. She was a 15-year-old Canadian cyberbullying victim who committed suicide while at home in Port Coquitlam, a town in the province of British Columbia, Canada. A connector to the world is the story of Kim Jong’s brother. Kim Jong has a brother who was exposed on the chatter. The chatter was about where he lived and he wanted to leave the country. This made the Korean government angry and they sent the Assassinations. So Kim arrived in Malaysia on February 6, 2017, and went to Langkawi Island on February 8th. On February 13, 2017, at around 9 am, Kim was assaulted by two women with a VX Nervous Agent near an airport check-in kiosk located at Level 3 in KLIA 2 Departures Terminal. Low-cost Kuala Lumpur International Airport on his return trip to Macau. VX is a chemical weapon prohibited by the 1993 Chemical Weapons Convention.

We conclude that chatter is the tendency to hurt, feel good about themselves and feel powerful over others. If you know that something juicy has been done by someone over the weekend, it’s easy to feel like you can tell others. But at the end of the day, what happens is always the way back. like karma