Why Do People Gossip?

 Gossiping these days has pretty much turned into a hobby. Its sad but, its true. I find it hard to have one single conversation with anyone and not gossip about one thing or another. Why do we gossip? When is it too much? When does it cross lines and become a problem? Why can't we seem to stop? I have some opinions on this, of course! Haha

 Whether your with a group of friends or having an coffee date with a family member, gossip usually always takes place. It seems to make us feel good to gossip. There is a rush of excitement and it tends to keep the conversation off each other. Lately, the gossip in my life has gone from harmless chatter to crossing lines and endless negativity. It made me wonder....WHY do we always feel the need to gossip? 

 I truly feel like we are raised to gossip. As children, you see adults constantly gossiping with one another. Your mom catches a friend at the grocery store and the next thing you know, your 80 years old while they are chattering away about what Suzie wore to work last week. Your family comes over for a reunion and your rushed away while everyone talks about Donnies drug addiction for the next three hours. Then, you hit school age and its all over from there. From Pre-K to Senior Class, we spend our hours gossiping with our friends about literally anything and everything. Think about it. How much time of YOUR life have you spent gossiping? Its cringe worthy. 

 However, I do feel that gossiping relieves stress for most of us. Which, is a huge reason why so many of us do it. I believe hearing bad news about other people truly makes us feel better. Its an ugly truth but, a truth none the less. Why wouldn't it make you feel good to know your life isn't as shitty as you thought it was? Or at least not as shitty as others out there. It's not that you wish anything ill on someone but, when you hear someone was fired, or ill ETC, it tends to make us feel better. Like our life is going in a better direction and that has a way of making us feel a bit better about our own stresses. 

 Gossip also helps us receive validation and process our experiences. If your upset, your definitely going to go to a friend and tell them all about what happened. Not because you want the reality of the situation or a fix to the problem but, because you want validation in your anger. You gossip to get out of your own head and process things easier. Women love sharing things with other people. That's a fact. It helps us digest what is happening in our world around us. It helps us network and make friends. It allows us to be relatable to other people. The one thing I am sure of though, its a primitive coping technique we all use, every single day. 

  I am a gossiper. For many of those reason I stated above. But, when does this become a problem? These days, gossip goes so much farther than just harmless chatter. It goes into cyber bullying and harassment. It goes into your privacy being violated and the people around you being violated. There are whole sites made for gossiping about people. People calling CPS on you or the police because of rumors and assumptions. Are these a problem for the individuals who use them or do that or is it society as a whole evolving into something very dark? Is this a case of "people always have to ruin it for everyone else"? Maybe its just a case of " my life is so shitty and I cant fix it so, I'm judging yours overly harsh". Maybe we all just have WAY too much time on our hands these days. Who knows. Gossiping is like that chocolate box. You know you shouldn't eat it but, its just so damn good and makes you feel SO good!

-Niki

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 Have you ever had gossip go WAY too far? Do you gossip? Why do you gossip? Have you even thought about why before or is it just a natural reflex for you? Why do you think people take gossip way too far these days? I want to know your opinions!! Leave me a comment!