It is assumed that gossip and rumors spreading are immoral and tend only to harm the people and those surrounding them. However, they can be viewed from a different perspective: gossips also contribute to yielding beneficial outcomes. Sometimes, when people are confronted for their dreadful actions, it leads to them assessing the situation and considerably enhancing their behavior to avert possible humiliations in the future. Furthermore, as social media is common for many people and more individuals can judge gossip online, it might bring even more fruitful benefits to society.
It is evident that gossips affect a person’s reputation either in a bad or a good way. However, as social media positions the rumors for the world to see, an individual feels more exposed. Furthermore, more people start discussing their viewpoints in posts and comments, which leads to the person assessing the situation and realizing that such actions might have been wrong and should not be repeated in the future.
In addition, users might begin hating on the person with a united effort, resulting in a person’s exclusion from the group or banishment from the workplace. To be more particular, it happens due to the people from the group or employers not being willing to risk their reputations. Thus, exclusion or ostracism is a more strong punishment than gossips and is firmly directed at the individual. As a result, one might display more willingness to adapt and change one’s behavior to be invited back to the group or the workplace.
To sum up, frequently, gossips and exclusion might play a pivotal role in changing a person’s behavior and attitude for the better. As the individual is exposed and humiliated in social media for everyone to see, one might put more effort into conforming. Furthermore, after such an awful experience, a person might do one’s best to avert similar situations happening to one in the future.