Webster\u2019s dictionary 1828 defines rumor as \u201cFlying or popular report; a current story passing from one person to another without any known authority for the truth of it.\u201d<\/p>\n
In Webster\u2019s 4th<\/sup> College Dictionary it is defined as \u201cgossip, or a story that is not confirmed but is being discussed.\u201d<\/p>\n The Web has so much outstanding potential but it carries with it the potential for rumors, exactly as defined above, being carried far and wide.<\/p>\n In 1972, L. Ron Hubbard wrote:<\/p>\n \u201c\u2026 a rumor can go through a society that has no basis of truth. When numbers of such rumors exist and are persistent, one suspects a \u2018whispering campaign.\u2019\u00a0 This is not because people whisper these things but because like an evil wind it seems<\/em> to have no source.\u201d<\/p>\n Celebrity gossip rags and even some \u201creputable\u201d newspapers and magazines are rumor mills, corroborating rumors with such statements as \u201ca source close to the actor,\u201d or \u201caccording to sources.\u201d\u00a0 Sometimes they don\u2019t even try to source it, simply saying \u201cit is said that\u2026.\u201d\u00a0 Or how about the famous \u201cAn insider revealed\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n Google your favorite celebrity and the word \u201csource\u201d and count how many stories show up.\u00a0 Here are some examples:\u00a0 Halle Berry 18 million pages; Bono, 24 million pages; Kirsten Stewart 38 million pages; and how about politicians\u2014Romney 214 million and Obama 1.2 billion!<\/p>\n I think we as a culture have taken anonymity too far when un-sourced gossip spreads unchecked like an epidemic through the Internet.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Webster\u2019s dictionary 1828 defines rumor as \u201cFlying or popular report; a current story passing from one person to another without any known authority for the truth of it.\u201d In Webster\u2019s 4th College Dictionary it is defined as \u201cgossip, or a story that is not confirmed but is being discussed.\u201d The Web has so much outstanding […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":220,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[831,830,829],"class_list":["post-1862","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-gossip-rags","tag-newspapers","tag-rumors"],"yoast_head":"\n