Gossiping is a guilty shame and pastime that goes back for centuries. From cozy kitchens in hovels to the king's court, people have loved their gossip. Even today, people will gossip at parties, celebrations, and even around the kitchen table over a hot cup of coffee. When it comes to universities, colleges, and even high schools, the love of gossip is no different.
The places where rumors still abound include educational edifices and examples of gossip, like those found on https://studymoose.com/communication, might serve a greater purpose than just getting the latest news about the locals. One can easily come up with a communication essay on the topic, but how does gossip influence communication between students?
The primary effects of gossip on the student body is not all that different from how it influences communication at the workplace and in social areas, although they tend to be more closely related in college.
It Forms Friendships
First, gossip encourages students to talk to each other. A college student, new to the campus, for instance, doesn't know anyone and is reluctant to reach out to others to form new relationships. That student would be willing to talk to others, but can't come up with an icebreaker to start a conversation.
Gossip brings that person into the group by having him, or her, overhear a rumor and exclaim surprise. They are then brought into the group by way of that rumor and are introduced to them, forming the basis of a new friendship. Whether in the hallways or at a party, gossip among students facilitates friendships between established students and new ones.
It Encourages Communication
The other way that gossip influences communication between students is by encouraging communication itself. Parties would be dull and boring without much said if people didn't get the conversation started with a bit of gossip about someone they all don't like, the administration of the campus, or just about local and national news, in general.
It's that first bit of a "Did you hear that-" sentence that draws people closer in a circle and starts all of them talking about what may and may not be true. The same is true of students in hallways or at their desks before class starts. A bit of gossip communication going on between students can lead to all sorts of positive benefits for those involved.
Rumors Form Roots
This leads to what that communication encourages, and it's that conversation that results in other benefits between students. The most important, foundational aspect of this increased communication between students is that groups of friends become closer and the glue that binds them together is stronger. As time goes on, those friends from the start of an individual's community within the campus.
It's this increased conversation that makes a student more likely to stick with college and put deeper roots down at the college, ensuring greater success within the college or university. During this time, their communication skills are also improving.
This is much the same for when they finish college and embark on a new life into the adult world. A rumor will be their icebreaker at their future workplace, as well. In a way, it trains them on their communication skills for when they go out into the real world.
It Might Just Help Them Write Their Essays
Another positive consequence of gossip is that it can actually have a small effect on their classwork. Having experienced gossip, they are better able to collaborate with each other on communication essay topics, communication essays, and especially essays on gossip!
The Start of a Beautiful Thing?
The most positive communication aspect of gossip between students is that it encourages a form of communication that allows students to form friendships with their fellow students and even their professors. It's gossip that brings people closer together, as strange as that sounds, and that can form the basis of many friendships, some of which will last a lifetime.
It's All About Information
The prime way that gossip influences communication between students, though, is that it facilitates the one thing that everyone needs in day-to-day life: information.
In most other circles, people exchange gossip for the purpose of information gathering, but this is doubly true on campus. Social and educational information is shared through gossip.
People talking in a college hallway, for instance, might be talking about an upcoming party. As a result of sharing that information, they're also likely to share the date, time, and location of the party. That then spreads throughout the student body, making for a massive bash.
What was communicated here? Social information about the party was, which is important for many students to blow off steam.
A visiting guest speaker may be making a presentation within the coming week. Students talking in classrooms and fields are likely to bring it up to see if their friends are going. As a result, people who didn't know about the speaker may now attend the lecture. Educational information has been passed on.
In the end, gossip has been regarded as a negative influence on society, and some of those effects can't be denied, but it also brings a community closer together and transmits information. All in all, not bad for a bit of gossip.