Ravneet Chima - Dale Frankoski - Jennifer Lindsay - Mirena Savage

Group Members


Mirena Savage

Dale Frankoski

Jennifer Lindsay

Ravneet Chima

Introduction


Im sure that as soon as some of you saw this topic you immediately knew what we were talking about. For those of you who don’t know what gossip sites and blogs are, you’re in for a real treat. Gossip sites are just like those gossip magazines you see in all the convenience stores. They feature all the hottest celebrity gossip, the majority of which most stars would prefer you not to check out on a daily basis. However sites such as TMZ.com and Perez Hilton are viewed thousands of times per day and some blog sites have an average of 6000 members! These sites feature articles with titles such as “Bobby P – Secret Rendezvous” or “Kingston’s Terminal Temper Tantrum” and are usually accompanied by a picture featuring the stars in their worst moments. Other such sites allow you to go on and type your own personal message about these articles so that the world can see what you have to say. While some argue that this will only fuel these types of sites even more, others say it’s simply a way of voicing your opinion.

Argument
It is a natural thing to be curious about what your favourite celebrity is up to, but a problem develops when knowing what is going on in someone else’s life takes over your life. Gossip Sites can be informative and entertaining but it is not healthy for a person to be searching them and looking at them excessively. When interest becomes addiction there needs to be an evaluation on the use of these sites. People spend hours of their day on gossip sites, it becomes an addiction, one that can be just as detrimental to a person’s life as alcohol can.

Gossip is essentially rumours, which are frequently untrue and negative. Most gossip sites focus on criticizing the celebrities which they feature, they obtain their viewers by putting out negative images of people. The majority of people that regularly visit these sites are young women, these girls are constantly being subjected to the gossip that is in the media, and this will affect their own social lives. If people are surrounded by the gossip in the media then they will bring this malicious and cruel habit into their own lives. Gossip sites cause people to bring the same negative criticism into their own lives, and cause them to be more judgmental about the people around them.

“millions of people - specifically, adolescent females - are absolutely addicted to celebrity gossip”	-James Halpern

History


It interesting to note that the word “gossip” was derived from Middle English originally meaning godparent. However today when you look up gossip in the dictionary, it specifically reads “idle talk or rumor, esp. about the personal or private affairs of others: the endless gossip about Hollywood stars.” This definition is stated word for word from dictionary.com and, not surprisingly, uses the example of the gossip about Hollywood stars. To better understand the gossip sites of today, let’s take a look at where they originally started.

Jack Levin, coauthor of Gossip: The Inside Scoop, states that “for a real understanding of our social environment, gossip is essential.” From the time we were able to talk we were able to share stories and even gossip about others, even if we didn’t know that we were doing so. Before anyone can remember gossip has been a part of everyday life. It was in 1704 that Daniel Dafoe wrote the first “chatty newspaper column” and started an age of publishing gossip that had previously just been carried on through word of mouth. From this point on gossip became more than just fruitless community talk and turned into what we know gossip as today.

As time went on the news paper columns became magazines and the “community gossip” developed from the social elite to the Hollywood stars. Gossip continued to become more severe and unkind, almost always portraying the stars in the worst light. In the United States the first major gossip column was launched in 1916. The article contained far more racy material then any pervious articles and gossip columns from this time on followed its lead. Gossip magazines became increasingly popular in New York City and in 1932 the material became so racy that they city banned the tabloid “Broadway Brevities and Society Gossip.” As the computer age emerged these magazines turned into the gossip sites we know today, making the gossip accessible to anyone who cared to search for it.

Present and Future


At present, our society is obsessed with the lives of the rich and famous. The intrigue of being able to know exactly what is going on in celebrities’ lives is so time and life consuming. We are so caught up in watching every fault and scandal that we often lose sight that we are actually paying more attention to others than our own lives. Gossip sites are accessed so often because with the freedom that the internet allows, we can watch, read, and comment on the lives of celebrities. We become obsessed with these because sometimes we can live our lives through the lives of others. We can criticize every fault that their body may have, or we can judge their past but we often forget about our own bodies’ and pasts.

Celebrities are always in the eye of the public, whether they like it or not, and therefore must maintain these high expectations that society has for them. With these gossip sites, we can anonymously comment and read about how a certain celebrity may not be conforming to society’s view on body image, and then we criticize. Then perhaps the celebrity decides to put her own health at risk by developing an eating disorder to conform to these expectations that society implements. Immediately, it will be all over the internet, and even though she may be “skinny”, we instantly judge her and will have that judgement on her until she does something about it.

We hear all the time about celebrities going into rehab, getting married, having kids, etc... We like to hear about these ‘events’, and absolutely love to see pictures. These pictures are from the paparazzi that follow celebs and then get paid for by magazines, and gossip sites to post them. We scrutinize these pictures, comment on them, and then wait until the next one comes up.

Gossip sites will always be a part of people’s lives. They have become a “filler” in our day to day lives. The future of these sites depends on celebrities’ actions and society’s perception on them. For now, perezhilton.com will still be the homepage for many, but I hope that in the future that these people will realize that reading about what is going on in the world and the economy may benefit their own lives than perhaps reading about whether Brangelina are going to have one more baby or not.

Addiction
Addiction can be defined as a “condition of being habitually or compulsively occupied with or involved in something”. Most often when one thinks of addiction they think about a drug addiction that is causing some ones life to spin out of control. Not only drugs can have this effect on you though. Throughout history there have been people addicted to gossip. They would do anything to hear about the next hot topic and some would even go to the extent of starting rumors themselves just to see what happens. Eventually people became fixated with the Hollywood starts and gossip columns and magazines were the prefect outlet for their fix. Once gossip sites developed it became easier then ever to get your daily dish on the stars. Some might ask what the problem is in just checking up on the stars every once in a while. The truth is that if it really is “every once in a while” then it’s just fine. The problem arises when people are on these sites every spare minute they have. We understand that sometimes you need to escape from your own life and check in on someone else’s because lets face it, sometimes the articles we see can make us feel better about ourselves. However doing this everyday and several times a day can influence your own life more then you think. As we have said above, most gossip sites contain negative and often cruel articles and pictures of the stars. If you continue to surround yourself with such negative images, you yourself may become subject to viewing those around you in the same manner. The flip side of this is those sites that portray those flattering pictures of the stars, can make you feel insufficient since you don’t live up to that standard.

Next time you log onto your favorite gossip site think about how many time you have done so in the past few days….maybe you’ll see you need a little break away from them.

Below is a three-step solution to gossip addiction!

Step 1:

Admit that you're addicted! Monitor the amount of time you spend on gossip websites in a day. 10-15 minutes are allowed, but if you are spending more than that continue to step 2!

Step 2:

Schedule 10-15 minutes for your celebrity-gossip fix. We get too caught up monitoring the lives of celebrities and forget to pay attention to our own!

Step 3:

Visit different websites! Read the news, find out what is happening in the world instead of zoning in on celebrities. You will feel better about the time you spend on the internet and also sound smarter when you bring up current events instead of latest celebrity gossip!

Other Issues
Paparazzi



In order to keep these gossip sites going there needs to be a constant stream of photos taken of the people on the sites. These pictures are taken by photographers who are known for invading celebrity’s privacy and putting the lives of many in danger. Celebrity’s livelihood depends on the public wanting to see them, so the paparazzi can do some good for these people but when they start to put their lives and their family’s lives in harm’s way it becomes a problem. Paparazzi not only violate people’s personal space but they also frequently break the law. The issue is whether or not people should be looking at these websites due to the fact that they are the sites purchasing these pictures and supporting the paparazzi.

Some Examples of Paparazzi intrusions:

•	A paparazzo intentionally had a car accident with Catherine Zeta-Jones to force her out of her car.

•	Actor Sean Penn was intentionally provoked many times into physical confrontations to get photos and create lawsuits.

•	Paparazzi posed as Michael Douglas's family members to gain access to the hospital where his son was born.

•	Susan Sarandon found a paparazzi camp hidden on her property.

•	Britney Spears and her mother were surrounded at a pet store. Britney's mother injured a photographer fleeing the scene in her car.

•	An English tabloid published Gwyneth Paltrow's daily route while she does her household routines, as well as the location of her new house, based on information gathered from paparazzi.

Magazines



As anyone can see when you visit any convenience store or grocery store you have the option of picking up any gossip magazine and reading the latest drama in Britney spears’ life. There are many different options all with a common feature, showing celebrities at their worst. The magazines main goal is to get their readers addicted to the magazine so they keep buying the new issues. So not only are people going on the internet to get their daily fill of gossip now they are purchasing it. Magazines purchase the photos from the intrusive paparazzi, and people purchase the magazines, so if people were to stop purchasing the magazines then not only would these magazines stop producing issues, the paparazzi would also be out of a job and stars would be harassed less by the paparazzi. The problem is addicts will not stop purchasing the magazines so there is no end in sight for this new addiction.

Conclusion
Through our analysis of gossip websites we've come to the conlcusion that they are nothing more than a waste of time. Gossip has changed much throughout the years going from local gossip in newspapers to mass invasions of privacy. It has become much more accessible than decades before through websites and magazines that you can access on the go. People spend far too much time concerning themselves with events of their favourite celebrities' lives when they could be doing far more productive activities.

Top Ten Gossip Sites (just incase after reading this site you still want to fuel your addiction)
(by www.associatedcontent.com)



10. Oh No They Didn't http://ohnotheydidnt.livejournal.com

9. Drunken Stepfather

http://www.drunkenstepfather.com

8. Celebrity Babylon

http://www.celebritybabylon.com

7. Wonkette

http://wonkette.com

6. Celeb Slam

http://www.celebslam.com

5. Dlisted

http://www.dlisted.com

4. A Socialite's Life

http://www.socialitelife.com

3. Page Six

http://www.nypost.com/gossip/gossip.htm

2. Perez Hilton

http://www.perezhilton.com

1. TMZ http://www.tmz.com