The cardinal rules of gossip

During my hunt for a master thesis topic, I stumbled over the book "Rumors and Rumor Control" by Allan J. Kimmel. There he mentiones the ten cardinal rules of gossip. Here they come:

1. Everyone gossips. Even if you´ve just stood around listening, it´s tantamount to gossiping.
2. No one ever asks if the information is true. Everyone assumes that it is.
3. The greater the potential damage, the faster the gossip travels.
4. The more you try to tell people that the gossip is not true, the more they will believe it is.
5. Major decisions have been based on gossip. When the decision turns out to be bad, gossipy rumors arise to explain the bad decision.
6. Of all forms of communication, gossip is the most easily distorted.
7. Men gossip just as much as women, and gossip is filtered through socioeconomic strata by both genders.
8. People gossip to protect their own reputations. When the focus is on someone else, one receives a momentary reprieve.
9. The more demeaning or hurtful the gossip, the longer it takes for the victim to hear about it.
10. Gossip thrives in an atmoshpere of secrecy and competition. It tends to thrive most where there is too much secrecy and where advancement is based on overcompetition.