RP107 Internet Gossip Websites

 RP107 Internet Gossip Websites

Gossip has existed as long as humans have lived together. We have always gossiped about our friends and family, but we will even sometimes gossip about people we have never met. Recently, the Internet has become a home for thousands of celebrity gossip websites— websites that constantly update readers about the actions of their favorite (or least favorite) celebrities. Through these websites, rumors can be spread to millions of people almost instantly. Often, this gossip is unkind. Often, it can also be untrue. Whether it is true or not, information that spreads so far and so fast can be very damaging to a celebrity's career.

Because of this, many celebrities hate these websites. They say the websites invade their privacy. Some celebrities have sued the websites or writers of the sites. Many of these lawsuits have been successful, meaning the websites have been forced to correct false stories or pay money to celebrities.

But other celebrities encourage gossip websites. They believe “all publicity is good publicity.” Some of them even work with the paparazzi— photographers who follow celebrities— to make sure the paparazzi will know where they are and take pictures of them. They feel they must remain in the public eye in order to remain popular. In this way, some celebrities and gossip websites form a cycle. The celebrities feed the paparazzi by posing for photos. Then, the paparazzi feed the photos to gossip websites, and the gossip websites feed the photos to consumers. Consumers see the photos and then want even more information about the celebrities.

This, of course, means the celebrities will continue to pose and the paparazzi will continue to take photos. But in the end, it isn't the paparazzi or celebrities who are the reason for these websites. We average human beings and our hunger for gossip are the reason these websites still exist.