Other Tips to Stop Gossip

Google Yourself. To find out if nasty stuff about you is floating around the web, Google yourself by doing separate searches on your full name, nickname, screen name, email and IM addresses, street address, phone numbers, web site, profiles, and school. Be sure to enclose each item in quotes.

Never pose naked. Never pose naked. Don’t ever allow anyone, including your boyfriend, to take pictures of you naked. You can’t control what happens to them, and once they’re on the web, they can be copied.

Get out of the spotlight. Wait for a new scandal to break so that becomes school gossip. Who it worked for: Paris Hilton. Three months after her sex tape caused a stir, Janet Jackson’s wardrobe malfunction made it old news.

Reemerge on the scene with good news about yourself (a role in a play, a new love). It won’t erase the past, but it will be a new scoop to focus on.

How to STOP Being a Gossip

Street Cents knows how delicious gossip can be, but it’s important to recognize the harmless from the harmful and to know when you’re about to share info that could hurt someone else. Street Cents has some tips for the die-hard big mouth in all of us.

• Prune your list. If you regularly trade gossip with a dozen friends, try gabbing with only one or two people.
• Choose your confidants wisely. Some people are more likely than others to lead you down a negative path.
• Consider intentions. As you're gossiping about friends' baffling behavior, try to consider intentions more than actions. Most people mean well, despite how they might behave at a given moment.
• Hear no evil. Not spreading vicious gossip is only half the game. Try not to overindulge in listening to caustic dish, as well. If someone starts to gossip about a friend, tell him or her that you are not interested and walk away or change the topic.
• Listen to your gut. You'll know when the gossip turns from benign to nasty by the tension in your shoulders, a tightness in your gut. Negativity has distinct physical effects; when you feel them, bow out of the conversation.
• Observe the golden rule. Imagine walking into a room and surprising a group of people in deep discussion about your faults. Remember this exercise the next time you're engrossed in some really lively gossip.
• Change the details. Telling stories about people is fair game as long as you leave out names and identifying details.
• Don’t dish dirt. Respect yourself and others – instead of putting down other people’s accomplishments, appreciate them. The only person looking bad putting someone else down is you.

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