Why do you think people like to listen to gossip?

Philippines
April 16, 2012 9:58pm CST
Many people like to gossip to others about what they heard and what they saw. It seems that they are enjoying what they are doing.I don't understand why people would waste their time listening to gossips. They could have done some good things for the time they spent on listening to those gossips that they aren't sure if they are true or just a mistake.Just think about this, if someone hears a story from the others, that someone will somehow exaggerate to the others. Others will also exaggerate and add some inputs on it to make it interesting, until the story will be modified and make it a big issue. The question is, why people are really interested to hear gossips? For me, it's not really good because we could destroy someone's lives. If we will put the situation in our own shoe, we will not like to be talked about. There will not be any privacy in our lives. I will tell you one example of how gossip destroy someone's life. I have a co-teacher who is pregnant, but they aren't married with her bf yet. She told us about her situation and we don't know who informed our boss about her and she got fired. She losses her own job because of that gossip. It might be a true situation yet we should be careful enough who are those people that we would like to share our stories. We are really sorry for her. We really don't know who is the person behind it. Do you like to share your secrets to someone else? Do you have any experience of being gossiped?
16 responses
@superbadx (484)
• Malaysia
17 Apr 12
For me i like to listen to a gossip but i have never take any part of spreading those. What i like about it just because i am curious about everything and i want to know about everything. Gossip sometimes turn into a bad thing and can cause people to fight each other mostly best friends when the friend is gossiping about the other friend bad behavior or something bad. I say sometimes, but what i meant is most of the time. Because gossip is what it is nowadays because of the bad stuff it spread around the places.
17 Apr 12
Gossip gives you that buzz you get when you find out something that is interesting, and can surprise you, it also gives you something to think on and judge for yourself. There are of course negative sides to it, like if you decide to spread whatever the gossip may be then you could be targeted to whomever it may concern, and as a result build a bad reputation. When friends gossip about each other it can easily break them up and can lead to worse things such a physical aggression. There are two sides to gossip, but it's always fun to catch up on a bit of banter!
@bjc66bjc (6730)
• United States
17 Apr 12
I am with you bessyjanmayi, I think gossip can be very very dangereous and cause so many problem.... I don't like it....
• Philippines
19 Apr 12
You are right bjc66bjc! I hate gossips especially if it's not true. Sometimes it's hard for me to keep secrets t my friends so I will tell them about it. Then, sometimes I just heard that many people already know about it. So I will ask if who shares my secrets and nobody will admit. It's really so sad to hear about it.
@cuttyrish (2667)
• United States
17 Apr 12
I do not like to listen to gossips. However, there are some people who likes to listen to gossips about other people, because they use it as a means of escaping other things, and gossips makes new matters to talk about, it's facilitates conversations, and sometimes it helps to gather info. It do brings spice to life if something extraordinarily happen. Sometimes some other people gossip because of eny, they are jealous of the other people, and make stories about them. It's not healthy to gossip about people.
@celticeagle (165954)
• Boise, Idaho
17 Apr 12
I don't recall having any experience with being gossiped. Maybe my life isn't/wasn't that exciting. I have known several people who like to gossip. They seem know things about others that I would not even begin to understand how they came to know it. Except for gossiping that is. I have never known of anyone losing their job over gossiping but I can certainly understand it.
@megamatt (14292)
• United States
17 Apr 12
That is just the nature of people it seems. We have to know pretty much everything that is going on. Whether or not it is true, well that is just some detail that we are not going to be bothered with for right now. All kinds of rumors, all kinds of news are just flying right through the air, it is hard to determine what to believe. Especially considering the most unbelievable things tend to be the things that rather mean to be true. I tend to just overhear bits and pieces, but I try to not really be a part of that gossip chain. It is really just something where am going to be exposed to it rather handily a lot of the time. I just don't go out of my way to hear it but some people tend to really feel the need to share it with everyone with a set of ears in the surrounding area. I just hear it but I take pretty much everything that I say with a grain of salt.
@doniep (99)
• Philippines
17 Apr 12
Basically, life is full of parts that you have to connect the dots, and gossip is one of the dots that you connect in a life. but it don't mean that life is like a gossip, gossip adds up on the dots of life. They are a lot of types of gossips and it depends on how you interpret them and how you handle it. nobody in this world wants to be gossiped, and nobody in this world want to live in a gossiped life.and as you said gosssips can be modified by some or the rest of the gossipers. well, about your story of your teacher, it was wrong to gossip and whoever gossiped about it, was supposed to be blame? but i tell you its about morality, teachers have to be moral and be an example to the students with their profession. as a teacher she cant be a good example for the students, i know the outcome of the gossip was bad. however morally speaking basing it on her professions she was not a good example to the learners, so she will end up not having a job. when someone becomes or is a teacher they must know the responsibilities and moral values of the profession.. sorry about your teacher. lastly, yes i do share secrets to some else, but not just some one,but a friend and family that i know i can trust..
@shylade (3132)
• Philippines
17 Apr 12
i wonder what are the benefits other people are getting from spreading gossips. i have experienced so much from it and it drove me insane for awhile. you know crazy people creating an image of not you are and even telling this and that about you as if they know you a lot. when we confront them and we showed them we are affected and angry that will just make them happier. so i might as well not dwell with them and will never stoop down to their levels.
@sanofer (525)
• India
17 Apr 12
gossiping is just a time pass for human being and we cant help them from not gossiping about others. it is not good to gossip. it is a human nature and tendency to exaggerate things about others. so we should be careful and one day someone will start saying something wrong about us itself. so it is better to keep quiet rather than speaking about others privacy.
@Mashnn (4501)
17 Apr 12
I do not like gossipers since they cause alot of problem in the society. As much as you would like to listen to gossips, it is much better when you do not comment back during gossiping.
17 Apr 12
I also do not know what is good in gossip why other people are so in love doing it. It is just a waste of time and I think every one should mind their own business. I really hate to be topic of any coversation if it becomes over whether good or bad. The thing is I feel like being watched for every decision, happenings or events with my life. so normally I do not share very private things about me which I do not want other people to talk about. We all have privacy and everything has its place. Gossip only make things worst so we should not entertain it when someone brings gossip to us.
@dazzledlady (1618)
• Philippines
17 Apr 12
People likes to listen to gossips because it is best to be informed. They say ignorance excuses no one. So they find ways to be updated of the things happening around them. I think what is bad about it is when you spread what you have heard without verifying it from the source. That is the common mistake and the one that will get you with so much trouble. So for me gossiping is not really bad but it is on how you handle the information you have heard.I guess be a responsible listener, listen well and verify it.
• Philippines
17 Apr 12
People do gossip not only about bad things happen to your life but even when you are in a most advantageous position of wealth or influence. I think it's all about jealousy. When someone is jealous about your disposition in life, he would always find fault with you and rub your injury by spreading lies to other people to make you feel really bad and depressed. I think we can't do anything about people who gossip because they will do that anyway. What is important is the manner by which we respond to such ridiculous assumptions about your character or whatever is going on with your life. If you fight fire with fire, you will just end up frustrated because you cannot control how people will react to gossip, some will dismiss them as baseless stories but some, unfortunately, will believe them as gospel truth. But if you just speak the truth in love and humility, you will have earned the trust and admiration of many, leaving the rumor-mongerer on the losing end.
• Philippines
17 Apr 12
i think maybe people want to hear gossip because it's about someone, and they get to know things about someone which they do not know before, so i think its interesting. yes i experienced being gossiped, in a good way or bad way. but i try not to care about it especially when something true is being told about me. i just ignore it.
• United Arab Emirates
17 Apr 12
We actually want to hear gossips. What makes it bad is saying something without even knowing the whole story. It is not our story to tell and we don't have the right to say something bad about others. Life is hard and please don't make it a lot harder to others. Do whatever makes you sleep at night.:)
@mohkanari (1957)
• India
17 Apr 12
I think enjoyment in bringing unhappiness to others is the basis of almost gossips. Gossips have brought so many unwanted unpleasant incidents in various levels throughout history of mankind. In literature too there are some gossips which started incidents and ultimately turned to tragedies.
• Philippines
17 Apr 12
gossip could bring good or negative results. we really can't help it.aside from money, gossip also makes the world go round.many people made money from it. i think gossip is fine as long as you do it mildly, just out of curiosity and make sure it would not harm others.