4 minute read
The Broad Chit Chat: How Do Rumors Spread?
Lena Przybyłowska
Imagine your coworker just sat down with you for lunch and they are dying to talk about the new employee and how likely they will fail their training. Or maybe the author of the book you have been reading has had their private DMs posted on the internet in which they say their fanbase is annoying. We have all been a part of such situations present in daily life, but have you ever wondered how is it that the rumours actually spread? And is there any way we can benefit from such an exchange of information?
Over the years scientists have proposed multiple models representing the spread of hearsay. Let’s go over a more simplified one and, in my opinion, the most interesting one - the epidemic model - in a less scientific sense.
The epidemic model concerns the spread of rumors in the same way as an epidemic may spread. The crowd is divided into the following: the ignorants – those who do not hear the rumors at all; the spreaders – those who like to open their mouths and gossip about anything they hear; and the stiflers - the people who put a stop to the spread of rumors. Scientists have established that the spread of rumors is similar to the contamination process. Different behaviors and environments influence the process of rumor spreading and the forgetting rate - the time it takes us to forget the information we were given. To put it simply, there are three types of people based on how they react to rumors. Some people do not hear rumors in the first place and therefore don’t react to them at all. Others will gladly pass them on, and then there are those who do not care enough to tell others. We’re generally aware that rumors are not exactly the most credible and trustworthy source of information. This fact, combined with the different types of rumor responders, suggests that there might exist personality types of radical believers in rumors, and those who will be more reluctant to do so.
You might ask, “How does personality fit into all this?”. Individuals who are steady and calm are believed to be contemplative by nature, therefore seeking some underlying meaning behind the rumor. In that process of overthinking, they analyze whether the rumor is true, whether it is relevant to their life, and whether it is worth passing along. It is crucial to information spreading since studies show that facts applicable to a person’s life are more likely to be passed on. For example, as the exam session is approaching, rumors about the schedule of exams have been forming around my faculty. Some have theorized that the whole plan will be presented as a gift for Children’s Day on the 1st of June. Of course, since the exam session applies to all students at the faculty, as the rumor started to spread, the office itself had to debunk it before it could begin to be considered true. They have become, as Piquera calls them in his article the stiflers and stopped the spread of misinformation regarding the exam session.
What you need to remember is that we all often use stories to communicate and it’s absolutely nothing bad to be a participant in rumor spreading as long as you don’t hurt others. Let’s not forget the unlikely benefits of rumors. Some consider gossip to be one of the main beneficial forms of information as it is a so-called, feel-good type of communication and it can release hormones such as oxytocin and serotonin. In such a way we are able to form closer relations that could further result in much more promising relationships. It is also a means of spreading beneficial information throughout the community we are part of. After all, who knows, maybe hearing some specific information gets passed along will save you from drama or get you a new friend.
