Gossip as a Sticky Medium
According to Siva Vaidhyanathan, “Gossip is uncensored, unmediated, unfiltered, peer-to-peer communication...Unmediated and decentralized, gossip was anarchistic in structure if not in content.” (pg. 1) Vaidhyanathan was speaking specifically of the gossip in the salons and parks of Paris in eighteenth century Paris.
Gail Collins, author of Scorpion Tongues: The Irresistible History of Gossip in American Politics offers her own fascinating insights into what gossip is and it’s role in politics and life. To Collins, gossip is unverified information, often salacious and about one's private life, that the subject would probably prefer be kept secret. Gossip helps bond the teller and the listener, makes the teller feel important, helps reinforce cultural norms and explains the way hidden society works.
Most important, politically speaking, are Collin’s idea that gossip is most likely to hold traction if it resonates with societal fears. For instance, rumors of presidential homosexuality in the 1850s didn't stick because the idea of homosexuality was too unthinkable. Meanwhile, rumors that Warren Harding had black descendents stuck because many whites were afraid of and thought themselves superior to black people.
Combine traction with the Internet age, and gossip can flies at digital speeds. From the travel gossip of Australian backpackers to the Drudge Report, gossip is moving faster than ever before.
Gail Collins, author of Scorpion Tongues: The Irresistible History of Gossip in American Politics offers her own fascinating insights into what gossip is and it’s role in politics and life. To Collins, gossip is unverified information, often salacious and about one's private life, that the subject would probably prefer be kept secret. Gossip helps bond the teller and the listener, makes the teller feel important, helps reinforce cultural norms and explains the way hidden society works.
Most important, politically speaking, are Collin’s idea that gossip is most likely to hold traction if it resonates with societal fears. For instance, rumors of presidential homosexuality in the 1850s didn't stick because the idea of homosexuality was too unthinkable. Meanwhile, rumors that Warren Harding had black descendents stuck because many whites were afraid of and thought themselves superior to black people.
Combine traction with the Internet age, and gossip can flies at digital speeds. From the travel gossip of Australian backpackers to the Drudge Report, gossip is moving faster than ever before.
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