IMPACTS OF GOSSIP

There are two aspects of how gossip in neighbors impacts:

towards people & the environment. To begin with I’m going to
talk about the human aspect.
At first, gossip definitely impacts the speakers (
gossip/gossip mongers) . Such conversations between these
people tend to make themselves lose their trust from others
as well as ruin their reputation.
1. To people

❖ The gossip:
- Lose others’ trust
- Ruin your reputation
(Honesty is an important feature of a human being. If you become
known as a busybody, you’ll gradually lose your honesty. For those
housewives who often chat about others’ personal lives, their friends
and family members might stop sharing the details of their lives with
them ‘cause they’re afraid that anything they tell them would become
fodder for gossip.
There are barely good relationships among neighbors, even if they
usually gather and chat. Since they all know each other as gossip
sisters, they may secretly resent the others. Anyway, no one likes to
make friends with people that can backbite them oneday)

(The gossip monger can get bad karma as well)

- Get bad karma
(If you’re spreading gossip about someone else, at the same time,
someone can also gossip about you. Probably it’s the same people with
whom you’re sharing gossip. So remember to treat others the way you
want to be treated)

❖ The victim:
- Affect their reputations
- Get humiliated
- Damage their mental health
(As gossip often includes some lies and juicy stories, the victim of
gossip may have their reputations ruined by those busybodies. When
people share gossip without any thoughts of how it might impact the
person it is about, the victim will easily get hurt. Imagine you’re
humiliated in your own living place day by day, you can definitely
establish some mental problems. Long-lasting criticisms and
judgements can literally destroy a person’s self-confidence, lead to
anxiety, depression, suicidal thoughts and the like)

2. To the surroundings (the whole picture)

❖ The relationship
We all know the iconic proverb “A close neighbor is better than a
distant relative”. Of course we’re not considering this as a target or a
must-have goal (since there are “abnormal” neighbors everywhere)
but like we have mentioned earlier, it’s best to accept others’
weaknesses or bad characteristics and adapt ourselves to the
situation within. This is to show why gossip should not happen in a
community due to its ability of disconnecting people from each other ,
although the disconnection tends to be harmless for us in some cases
(if you have not been in touch with your neighbor before at all it’s fine).
But considering the elderly, especially those making a move from rural
to urban areas for several reasons (to live near their children for
instance), they can suffer from depression as they have got used to
their urban neighbors. That being said, it is best to keep everything
fine, at least, as we do not want to witness or become a part of an
argument, a combat or even a crime. Another downside of neighbors’
gossip in Vietnam is that it can also affect the glamorous title of
“Cultural residential area” , “destroying the “efforts” of residents who
“do try” to behave well enough to secure that title.
Of course we’re not saying that gossip is all about discussing,
exploiting or analyzing the negativity here and there, as there are
plenty of cases where neighbors support each other when required.
Transitions: With that being said, now KDan will talk about the positive
side in gossip.