gossip is here at last
g'day
before every one has a spak attack about me not finishing my intrepid india journal, im posting all i have written on gossip theory. this has not been touched since november last year, so it still has additions and refinment to go thru. at only 900 or so words, its only a summary and has much additions to go thru.
enough said. here it is, copied an pasted from a word doc.
Gossip theory
Contents
1: what is it?
2: types of gossip
2.1.1 whispering campaign
2.1.2 talking campaign
2.1.3 yelling campaign
2.2.1 children
2.2.2 teenagers
2.2.3 adults
3: how it spreads
3.1 the way is spreads
3.2 how long it takes to spread
4: consequences of gossip
Chapter one: what is gossip?
Gossip in its simplest sense is simply a group of people who exchange information, usually about another person or event, most likely a mix of the two, through means of private conversation discussing only what they know, which in most cases is not the entirety of the event or information about the person. Sounds complex, yes, but nothing is that simple.
Chapter two
There are several types of gossip:
1) Whispering campaign
2) Talking campaign
3) Yelling campaign
Although these sound like only subtle differences, there is a massive chasm in between all three of them
2.1.1) Whispering campaign
This can be the most malicious form of gossip there is and is usually reserved for the most incriminating pieces of information. This type of gossip is when only 2 people converse about the given topic and any one time, then these 2 people will then talk to one person each about the given toipic. The information then spreads exponentially through any given body of individuals. For example it could be about what happened at a party, or on the weekend.
The information is then also slightly corrupted through each telling and interpretation of the information; this gets further amplified as the number of people who talk about the given topic increases. This is understandable as each person has different values, benchmarks for events and each person will consider what is important to them.
2.1.2) Talking campaign.
This is not really a campaign as such, but more of a group discussion on a given topic. This type of gossip is most likely to be more informed than a whispering campaign, and as such, it can be less damaging and less malicious. This is because as the group converses, they all contribute wheat they know, thus all the information is out in the open. This type of group discussions then leads to a more informed conclusion on a persons part than a whispering campaign would allow. Talking campaigns are often the next step in the gossip cycle because once every one has heard a version of the gossip they will discuss it with each other and give their opinions, thus leading to a more informed and (hopefully) more truthful conclusion on the persons’ part.
2.1.3) Yelling campaign.
This type of gossip is not really gossip as such, but more of a publication of most often, false and malicious information. A yelling campaign is the type of gossip with almost no finesse on the gossip starters behalf, but just a vein attempt to hurt some one, or their reputation. These types of campaigns never last long at all as many people will hear the information at once. Because the information is being yelled publicly, many people will disregard it because of the chance that it is false. A yelling campaign is often spur of the moment and because of this, not much thought has been put into it.
Chapter three.
3.1) How it spreads.
Gossip travels like water filling separate pools that are close to each other. That is, it most likely to spread through an entire social group before it reachers another. But quite often this is not the case. The most likely scenario is that one group will be almost fully informed when another group gets wind of the gossip. This is because not all social groups will converse with each other, for reason I will not explain here, and so the information will not spread freely between the different social groups. The most likely case is that the people who drift between groups will carry the information between other groups.
For example; group one will know a piece of gossip, it will hang around there until a person from this group talks to people in group two. This drifter will tell the people in group two what he has heard, and if group two cares, will start talking about it. A drifter between group two and group three will then do almost the same thing, and so on, until all groups of individuals in a larger body of people know, at some degree, the information.
3.2) How long it takes to spread.
How long it takes to spread depends on, how many individuals in a given body of people, how often the individuals gossip and personal morals. For a body of one hundred people who have regular opportunities to talk, then it will not take long for the information to spread. However, if the people do not get all that long to talk, or have conversation time taken up with business or other important conversational topics.
When in a given body of people, with clearly defined groups, the information could take weeks to spread. Using the example above: group one may know a piece of information for a week as a whispering campaign, before it becomes a talking campaign. Once this has happened, a drifter between group one and group two will have heard something when the gossip was in its whispering campaign phase and most likely would have passed it on to group two, where it will most likely start as a whispering. When the whispering campaign is in its full flight in group two, group one will have progressed onto a talking campaign.
there it is. please feel free to post comments of constructive crtisism.
cheers
before every one has a spak attack about me not finishing my intrepid india journal, im posting all i have written on gossip theory. this has not been touched since november last year, so it still has additions and refinment to go thru. at only 900 or so words, its only a summary and has much additions to go thru.
enough said. here it is, copied an pasted from a word doc.
Gossip theory
Contents
1: what is it?
2: types of gossip
2.1.1 whispering campaign
2.1.2 talking campaign
2.1.3 yelling campaign
2.2.1 children
2.2.2 teenagers
2.2.3 adults
3: how it spreads
3.1 the way is spreads
3.2 how long it takes to spread
4: consequences of gossip
Chapter one: what is gossip?
Gossip in its simplest sense is simply a group of people who exchange information, usually about another person or event, most likely a mix of the two, through means of private conversation discussing only what they know, which in most cases is not the entirety of the event or information about the person. Sounds complex, yes, but nothing is that simple.
Chapter two
There are several types of gossip:
1) Whispering campaign
2) Talking campaign
3) Yelling campaign
Although these sound like only subtle differences, there is a massive chasm in between all three of them
2.1.1) Whispering campaign
This can be the most malicious form of gossip there is and is usually reserved for the most incriminating pieces of information. This type of gossip is when only 2 people converse about the given topic and any one time, then these 2 people will then talk to one person each about the given toipic. The information then spreads exponentially through any given body of individuals. For example it could be about what happened at a party, or on the weekend.
The information is then also slightly corrupted through each telling and interpretation of the information; this gets further amplified as the number of people who talk about the given topic increases. This is understandable as each person has different values, benchmarks for events and each person will consider what is important to them.
2.1.2) Talking campaign.
This is not really a campaign as such, but more of a group discussion on a given topic. This type of gossip is most likely to be more informed than a whispering campaign, and as such, it can be less damaging and less malicious. This is because as the group converses, they all contribute wheat they know, thus all the information is out in the open. This type of group discussions then leads to a more informed conclusion on a persons part than a whispering campaign would allow. Talking campaigns are often the next step in the gossip cycle because once every one has heard a version of the gossip they will discuss it with each other and give their opinions, thus leading to a more informed and (hopefully) more truthful conclusion on the persons’ part.
2.1.3) Yelling campaign.
This type of gossip is not really gossip as such, but more of a publication of most often, false and malicious information. A yelling campaign is the type of gossip with almost no finesse on the gossip starters behalf, but just a vein attempt to hurt some one, or their reputation. These types of campaigns never last long at all as many people will hear the information at once. Because the information is being yelled publicly, many people will disregard it because of the chance that it is false. A yelling campaign is often spur of the moment and because of this, not much thought has been put into it.
Chapter three.
3.1) How it spreads.
Gossip travels like water filling separate pools that are close to each other. That is, it most likely to spread through an entire social group before it reachers another. But quite often this is not the case. The most likely scenario is that one group will be almost fully informed when another group gets wind of the gossip. This is because not all social groups will converse with each other, for reason I will not explain here, and so the information will not spread freely between the different social groups. The most likely case is that the people who drift between groups will carry the information between other groups.
For example; group one will know a piece of gossip, it will hang around there until a person from this group talks to people in group two. This drifter will tell the people in group two what he has heard, and if group two cares, will start talking about it. A drifter between group two and group three will then do almost the same thing, and so on, until all groups of individuals in a larger body of people know, at some degree, the information.
3.2) How long it takes to spread.
How long it takes to spread depends on, how many individuals in a given body of people, how often the individuals gossip and personal morals. For a body of one hundred people who have regular opportunities to talk, then it will not take long for the information to spread. However, if the people do not get all that long to talk, or have conversation time taken up with business or other important conversational topics.
When in a given body of people, with clearly defined groups, the information could take weeks to spread. Using the example above: group one may know a piece of information for a week as a whispering campaign, before it becomes a talking campaign. Once this has happened, a drifter between group one and group two will have heard something when the gossip was in its whispering campaign phase and most likely would have passed it on to group two, where it will most likely start as a whispering. When the whispering campaign is in its full flight in group two, group one will have progressed onto a talking campaign.
there it is. please feel free to post comments of constructive crtisism.
cheers
posted by §prax at 1:12 AM
4 comments
