On the eve of the referendum last month, a celebrity scandal went viral. Fans had already been shocked by news of a singer’s divorce, but then his ex-wife posted a long article detailing his private life. This was followed by several social media posts, often late at night, by the two parties and members of their families, as well as third, fourth and fifth parties rumored to have had extramarital affairs with the singer.
Sometimes real life can be more dramatic than soap operas, and this was one such case. The scandal sucked in the attention of the media and tens of thousands of social media users, stealing headlines from referendum coverage. Some even said the scandal affected the referendum results.
In a narrow sense, gossip is the spreading of information related to emotions and sexual relationships in the private lives of others. The better the reputation of the person involved, the more attention the gossip arouses.
Dissemination of gossip affects the values of members of society as they evaluate the behavior of the parties involved, and also creates viewpoints around which a shared community can form. This can be analyzed from two perspectives: motivation and behavior. The morality of paying attention to and spreading gossip can be viewed in the following situations:
The first is when you have similar experiences to the parties involved, and the circumstances resonate with you. You might pay close attention to how the story evolves and how it is evaluated by other members of society. You might also voice criticism of one of the parties involved.
Gossip, by nature, uses little definitive evidence to support the claims of the parties involved. They do, of course, insist on their own arguments and stories. If you believe only one side of the argument, you might participate in the discussion by venting your grievances. Here you should be careful, as you might make yourself vulnerable should the story develop in the opposite direction.
Gossip is sometimes little more than a public relations exercise — it is best not to let it manipulate you.
The second scenario is when you have no real connection to the scandal, but forward it anyway because you feel concerned about it, without judging any one of the parties.
You might be motivated by a desire to understand society’s mainstream values, and explore whether your own behavior would be deemed acceptable in a similar situation. Wanting to be integrated into society is a natural feeling, and there is no need to feel embarrassed about it.
The third scenario is when you have no similar experience to the parties involved, but are concerned about the scandal to a high degree. You take a stance and forward the story.
Taking part in gossip is a test of social values and might contribute to shaping them.
However, as gossip is rarely based on facts, it might become a vehicle to spread specific values.
The result of trying to draw conclusions on an incorrect basis might lead you to the same territory as consumers of fake news and conspiracy theories. It is therefore important to make sure that anything you talk about is based on fact. If you want to understand mainstream views and find a place in society, it is natural to care about gossip, and there is nothing wrong with this in itself.
However, if you judge people in the absence of clear evidence, you risk harming not only yourself, but also others.
Distorting the content of gossip to create conspiracy theories or fake news hurts everyone.
Chang Yueh-han is an adjunct assistant professor in Shih Hsin University’s Department of Journalism.
Translated by Lin Lee-kai
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