Gossiping is good

Gossip is casual or unconstrained conversation or reports about other people, typically involving details which are not confirmed as true. Gossip is also defined as the unsanctioned evaluative talk about people who aren’t present. We all enjoy the pleasures of talking about other people. Word on the street is that gossip is the worst. Gossip was once characterized as “the faceless demon that breaks hearts and ruins careers.” It was described as a “three-pronged tongue” that kills three people: the teller, the listener, and the person being gossiped about. An observation was that “if people really knew what others said about them, there would not be four friends left in the world.” Convincing as these indictments seem, research suggests that gossip may in fact be healthy. 

• Talking behind other people's backs may not always be nice, but sometimes it can help promote cooperation and self-improvement.
• Gossip can play the role of protecting others from being exploited by passing on information about bad behavior to warn others.
• Gossip is a good thing since it is pervasive. Despite its dodgy reputation, only 3-4% is actually malicious.
• If two people share negative feelings about a third person, they are likely to feel closer to each other than they would if they both felt positively about him or her.
• We can trade information with third parties about people who aren’t around in order to learn from other people’s experiences.
• In organizations, management becomes defensively tight lipped at a time of impending crisis. Nature abhors a vacuum and the gossip rushes to fill it.
• Gossip may even make us better people. Gossip about others made research subjects more reflective. Positive gossip inspired self-improvement efforts, and negative gossip made people prouder of themselves.
• Many people felt upon hearing a piece of negative gossip, are likely to say they had learned a lesson from it.
• Negative gossip can also have a pro-social effect on those who are gossiped about. Once people who were ostracized from a group due to reputed selfishness had reformed their ways in an attempt to regain the approval of the people they had alienated.
• Leaders and politicians have to be reminded that openness costs less than the impact of false stories and the time it takes to rub out the stain they leave. It requires a community of trust for gossip to be good for all of us.

So the next time you are tempted to dish the dirt, fear not. You may actually be promoting cooperation, boosting others’ self-esteem, and performing the essential task of the human family. 

Small people talk about other people, 
mediocre people talk about things and great people talk about ideas.
Gossip is when you hear something you like about someone you don't ... Earl Wilson

Gossip is what no one claims to like, but everybody enjoys ... Joseph Conrad

Women are more skilled than men at making gossip entertaining ... Kate Fox

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Although some benefits exist for gossip, it is basically negative trait. But it is part & parcels of the fundamental rights of citizens and can't be accused of any crime. The problem with gossip is that it is based on little facts, fiction or hearsay. That's what makes it fun, but people take it as the truth, turn it around, and throw it in your face. However, it is better to stay away from gossiping as it serves little purpose and ruins our character.