Rumor is a great traveler
Rumor travels faster than the truth. Hence, rumors can make or break anyone, be it a businessperson or a celebrity. Rumors starts as innocent gossip and over time it travels and spread from one person to the other, and the results turn out to be completely different. Rumors are created to hurt other people because some people are jealous, angry or disappointed. They start rumors to cause pain to the person. Rumor is a great traveler because it can start as simple act, for instance, if a customer in the restaurant does not like the waiter’s attitude, the person smear the name of the restaurant.
I recall one incident in high school where my friend Dan had a girlfriend and they had been together since sophomore year. As they got into junior and, the senior year they used to break up every time. Some months toward prom they had a bad fight and broke up this time, it was for good. Rumors had it that Lisa Dan’s girlfriend was a lesbian and Dan was cheating on Lisa, this rumor moved very fast until everybody was talking about him or her. This story is a perfect example how rumors can travel within seconds then the truth. Their relationship had been on and off, so it became believable when Lisa was accused of being a lesbian. Everybody in school concluded that Dan was cheating on his girlfriend while Lisa was a lesbian because there could be no other reason for the two to break up for good if it was not a serious issue. Unfortunately, these rumors travelled very fast through social media.
These are common sites where rumors can travel like lightening. The share button on Facebook makes it easier to spread rumors with one click of the mouse. If a jealous ex-boyfriend starts a rumor on Facebook about his former girlfriend, all his followers and friends will see it. The rumor will go probably too shared several times and those who do not even know the person will simply believe that whatever was shared is true. In a matter of few hours, someone’s reputation is ruined; even strangers who do not know the person will judge her based on this rumor. Initially, rumors spread by mouth would only reach within a circle of friends and could not reach far. Through social media, rumors can travel faster than the truth. I remember one scholar once said, a lie would go round the world while the truth is pulling its boots on, meaning that if you want the truth to go around the world, you will hire an express train to pull it. However, if you want rumors to travel the world, it will fly because it is as light as a feather.
Rumors travel faster because of the people responsible for spreading it find a way of ensuring that many people are aware of the problem. The problem with rumors is that it will take much effort to set the record straight because people will have formed an opinion about the person, therefore convincing people to change their minds will not be easy. There are different variables that affect rumors, whether it is started on purpose or it was just a miscommunication, the variables that affect rumor are equally important like the rumor. It is not easy for a rumor o to die off quickly. The fact that rumor is started by an ex-boyfriend or girlfriend can travel very fast, and people are likely to believe it’s true compared to if the rumor was started by just a friend.
