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Cara Bravo
English 1100 College Writing
Professor Lago
March 12 2014

Rumors

Teenagers seem to be the main contributors to gossip and rumors. High school is a place
where rumors are always circulating, about students and the teachers. Everyone has been
involved in spreading a rumor or the person the rumor is about. Once social media became
popular, rumors and gossip became even more popular among teenagers. Social media such as
Twitter and Facebook have given people the opportunity to learn and become more connected to
celebrities.
Robert H. Knapp wrote in A Psychology of Rumor, Rumors express and gratify the
emotional needs of the community in much the same way as day dreams and fantasy fulfill the
needs of the individual (360). By this, Knapp seems to be saying that people see rumors as
bringing something they want to reality. For example, when I was a sophomore, in high school, a
rumor was spread that I had sex with my best friends boyfriend. By the time it got around to my
friend, it had escalated to not only me having sex with him, but I was also pregnant with his
child. Obviously, this was not true, but my friend believed it and no longer spoke to me. To this
day, I have not spoken to her. The person who started this rumor clearly did not want us to be
friends. Therefore, they brought that to reality by spreading it.
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There is a rumor going around William Paterson University that there are laxatives in the
food at Wayne Dining Hall. There have been many debates whether or not this is true. During
class, we took a poll to see who believed it and who thought it was fake. The first poll we took,
more people thought it was true. We then read an article online that spoke about colleges putting
laxatives in the food. They supplied good examples and reasoning as to why this is untrue. For
one, it is illegal and dangerous. It could cause serious illness and in some cases can kill a student.
Why would the university risk a lawsuit? After reading the article, we took the poll again. The
number of people who believed this rumor to be true decreased. People tend to believe rumors
because other people feed into it. They will continue to believe it to fit in until there is hard
evidence proving it false.
Knapp also wrote about the three characteristics of a rumor; the pipe dream or wish
rumor, the bogie rumor, and the wedge-driving or aggression rumor. The pipe dream or wish
rumor is self-explanatory. They express the wishes and hopes of those among whom they
circulate (362). An example would be someone spreading a rumor about a celebrity, saying that
they are having a baby with another celebrity. They may do so because they want these
celebrities to have a baby together, so they try to make it true.
The bogie rumor is the opposite of the pipe dream rumor. The bogie rumor is essentially
derived from fears and anxieties (362). For instance, someone could spread a rumor stating that
a girls boyfriend is cheating on her because it is known that this girl is worried about this
possibility.
Lastly, there is the wedge-driving or aggression rumor. This rumor effects in
dividing groups and destroying loyalties (362). This was the rumor that was spread
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about me. For whatever reason, someone did not like either me or my friend so felt the
need to tear us apart.
Personally, I feel as though people spread rumors because they are insecure about
themselves. They feel like there is something wrong with them so they try to hide it by
distracting themselves and others by spreading false information about other people.
Rumors can have negative impacts on peoples lives and can ultimately ruin them. For
example, in my high school, there were always rumors going around about teachers
having inappropriate relationships with students. There was one instance where the rumor
got to the point where the teacher was fired. Although he was not really sleeping with a
student, the rumor was so huge that the principal had no choice. He was then arrested for
statutory rape because the girl was only fourteen. This mans life was ruined because one
student had a crush on him and he clearly did not feel the same way. She was angry and
hurt so she created this rumor.
Rumors can be related to the childhood game telephone; when someone whispers a
phrase into someone elses ear and that person has to whisper it into another persons ear. This
continues down the line of people until the final player has to announce what the phrase is. By
the end of the line of people, the phrase is distorted and becomes something completely different.
Rumors are just like this. It may not start as a rumor, just someone telling a simple story. People
can take it out of context and make it become something bigger.