WHAT IS GOSSIP

Before we break down the horrible things gossip can do, let’s break down the term. What is gossip?

Photo by Keira Burton from Pexels

According to the Merriam Webster Dictionary, gossip means “a person who habitually reveals personal or sensational facts about others,” or “spreading rumours.”

While it is human to hear stories from others, gossip in many ways can be horrible and harmful. For example, the effects of gossip can lead:

1. People to become depressed because false information is circulated. An example is Meghan Markle. While the tabloids were circulating false lies about her, her mental health was in the way. She felt depressed because the media was attacking her that hurt her mental state.
   
   Another example of gossip is when girls in middle or high school spread false lies about others. While yes, it is cruel and envious of them to spread lies, it can take a toll on someone’s health.
2. People to ruin their reputations. Ruining reputations means people losing faith and trust onto you. In the today’s world, gossiping can really hurt your status that people may no longer trust you as a leader.
3. People to be seriously hurt. A few years ago, I gossiped about one of my friends on Quora—that they eventually found out that I wrote an article about them. In the long run, it broke our friendship and they no longer trust me. While I have not told to some of my friends about my past mistakes, you have to be wary about what you say and where because one gossip can have a harmful effect.
4. People to gain bad habits. Humans are born to follow habits. Just like how you do your bed sheets every morning, gossiping can also lead to a bad habit. Imagine you in nicotine, but instead of nicotine—it’s mouthing false information or lies about someone. Do you like it if someone bad-mouthed about you?
5. People to break up relationships. As I mentioned earlier about my gossip story, gossip can make or break a relationship. In Psychology, a word can have an effect on someone in the long run. While I am aware that my friend was hurt by my comment that I made online (the article is now forever deleted), we have to be careful on what we hear and where we get the information. We have to double think on whether or not the information presented was true or falsely created.
6. People into legal trouble. In some worst-case scenarios, gossiping can lead to legal class action or lawsuits.
7. People to show the ugly truths about them. Yes, gossip can reveal someone’s ugly character or even show their true personalities. You just have to be careful on where you get your information.
8. People will bad-mouth about you, eventually. Karma is out to get you. Once you bad mouth about someone, the effects of karma will come back to you one day. People gossip about each other all the time. Even if you avoid it, someone close to you is probably gossiping about you. Just be careful on who you trust your information.

Sometimes, I wished there was a fact check on gossip just like how there is a fact-checking websites about false news articles.

To avoid the gossip pandemic, you must:

• Simply ignore it as ignoring is the best art out there,
• Delete or never post anything on social media so people cannot bad-mouth about your life or who you’re dating,
• And walk away and enjoy your life to the fullest.