Dirt.

Did you here about Mac at the party? What about the invoice screw ups from finance? How about those guys from supply not delivering the right products? Can you believe what she wore to work yesterday? I'm not sure I can work with the new boss, especially coming from the competition. I can't believe they are now going out? Did you see that picture on Facebook?

Studies by the University of California Berkeley, in the Journal of Personal and Social Psychology, say the above may be good for you. Seems dragging someone down, casting aspersions on their character and having a good gossip at their expense is therapeutic for us. Therapeutic in that heart rates rise when bad behaviour and inappropriate deportment is encountered but it is significantly lowered when we tell someone about that behaviour. Who knew we were preventing heart attacks by hanging around the water cooler dispensing salacious gossip.

Robb Willer, one of the study co authors, looked at idle chatter along with in depth character gouging and came away with findings of stress reduction, prevention of exploitation and maintenance of social order. The experiments, involving hundreds of volunteers, highlighted the benefits above and suggested that "gossip gets a bad rap" according to social psychologist Willer.

Participants in the experiments were put into situations where the passing of information regarding bad behaviour, including cheating and exploitation of others, was so strong that some participants by passed monetary reward to make sure the "goss" was got. This passing on of the "goss" quietened people's frustrations about situations and made them feel better about others not being exploited by the ones behaving badly.

What came out of the study was known as 'pro social' gossip and according to Matthew Feinberg as the other co author, "we shouldn't feel guilty for gossiping if the gossip helps prevent others from being taken advantage of". Seems altruism plays a part in all of this water cooler talk and the higher levels of selflessness a person has the more they feel the need to gossip and save people.

That's probably the reason we have so many gossip magazines, reality TV shows about bad behaviour and an entire Internet filled with rumors, scuttlebutt and tattle tales. Seems we are all just looking out for each other and making sure our lives are not as entangled, dis engaged and chaotic as those we confabulate about. Looks like the structure of society is safe, as long as we continue to chin wag our way through the raunchy demeanor of co workers, the unsuitable conduct of competitors and the trifle dalliances of friends and family.

In business, gossip no longer exists and long ago was replaced with market intelligence and competitive information, but no matter the semantics, a double edged sword of gossip is difficult to parry if you happen to be on the end of the gabfest. So the cliche of how you want people to see you and treat you comes back to your own reputation and how you manage that with everyone you meet. If that is worth disseminating, then Frank had the right idea, "Start spreading the news".