Rumors. We all hate them but they always find a way of spreading, and they spread FAST. Before we talk about rumors, we have to understand them better.

“People spread rumors when there is uncertainty,” says socialpysch.com. This happens because people try to make sense of a situation that makes no sense to them. A field experiment in 1955 went out to prove this. They randomly withdrew a student from a middle school, not giving any explanation to their classmates, and soon enough, rumors about the middle schooler’s disappearance began to flow in. Sometimes, people hope someone will step up to clear the air about the said rumor and give them the answer they were looking for all along.

A few ways to control the spread of rumors is not to confirm or disconfirm the rumor; sometimes the best response is no response. Rumors are built off of uncertainty and speculation, which is why in this scenario saying nothing is so much better than saying something. There is no surefire way of preventing rumors, unless you want to live your life under a rock. Humans are social creatures; it is in our nature to talk, to spread gossip in order to entertain or get the attention off of us and onto another.

Contrary to popular belief, rumors are not always a negative thing. According to psychology.iresearchnet.com, large corporations and companies have been known to spread rumors about products before launch to increase the hype and excitement.

Rumors may have a negative connotation to them, but in the long run, rumors are a part of human nature and have helped companies a lot.