Gossip - Everyone's Best Friend and Worst Enemy

It seems today that people have become even more deeply entwined within each other's personal lives. In fact it's hard not to. Take for instance networking sites such as Facebook and Myspace. We put our lives right in the very middle of the playing field. We allow our lives to be viewed by people around the country at the click of a button. We even allow our current state of mind to be known through status indicators and away messages. Believe it or not, our world has changed into a global broadcasting network of every person connected to the internet. Facebook is almost every college students CNN. "Did you see what she posted on his wall?!" and "Look at that picture I tagged of him, he was wasted last night!" or what about this one, "Gloria and Ben have ended their relationship." What?! No way.

With gossip even more accessible than ever before, it's almost impossible to be left in the dark on who's in bed with whom, and it's almost impossible to stay out of it. However, when does one reassess the consequences? When does one take into account the privacy of others, or has privacy gone out the window? It's important to take a step back out of the action just incase information gets mangled so badly that it could potentially hurt the well being of others. In some cases even yourself.

First of all, as stated in the title, gossip can be your best friend and your worst enemy at the same time. Gossip becomes your best friend when you do the talking. When you make the claims, the tables turn in your favor. This is because you can mold the information in the best way that suits your needs. When people are able to manipulate past events and situations, they often do so in a manner that puts themselves and their friends in a "better light." For example, lets say you were out shopping one evening and you happened to run into someone you've admired for quite some time. You could twist that tid-bit of information in your favor and say to your friends, "OMG I saw Mark today at the mall and he said hi!" When in all actuality he didn't even look at you. Or take for example this situation. Your arch enemy walks pass you. You decide to stretch the incident out a little bit. "OMG I saw Lizzie at the mall, she totally gave me a 'stank' look and she was with so trying to say hi to Mark!" When in all actuality she wasn't even looking in you or Mark's direction. The point made here is that anyone can change information in their favor, therefore putting them at a better stance whether or not it is legitimate.

However, beware of the consequences that may lie ahead. Some people may become so reliant on the use of negative gossip about others that it only relays their weaknesses to others. Take for example the gossip queen. She is the one female that everyone loves to listen to. She is the newspaper. She can tell you all the information you want to know about everyone that you know. She will go on for hours about who has slept with whom, who got so drunk last night that they passed out in the bathtub and who is out to get you. Never once letting you speak about how your day went because she is to busy telling you how everybody else's went wrong. You hate to love her but you need to in order to stay ahead of the big gossip game. So you listen. Unknowingly this queen, even though she thinks she may be the most perfect person on the planet actually, slowly put surely, makes herself look bad in the long run. When you use everyone else faults as a complement to your own strengths you never win. People will begin to notice your front eventually and begin to question your sources. This is when gossip becomes your worst enemy. When all you do is sit around and bark about other people, it questions whether or not you have anything good to say about yourself. It questions whether or not you are trustworthy and loyal.

So where is the middle ground? It's actually proven that it's good to gossip. It creates stronger bonds between friends, and cements relationships. It creates a situation in which friends can judge others without having to be scrutinized. However, when the gossiping becomes the only form of communication between people, it could create grounds for distrust. That is why it is very important to limit how much you gossip and be aware of the kind of gossiping you are doing. Don't be the person who becomes the daily tabloid and airs out everyone's dirty laundry. Instead, flip the switch a little. Tell a tall tale, as long as it doesn't hurt you or someone else in the long run.