You Didn't Hear This From Me: (Mostly) True Notes on Gossip

by Kelsey McKinney

And that’s still important to me, but I am no longer certain that truth is a concept we are capable of holding between our hands, and I know that gossiping—be it for fun or for information sharing—is at its very core all about truth.

Unintentionally, ChatGPT reinforces through its diction that gossip is a tool of the less privileged.

Anyone who has ever sat at a table in a crowded bar close-reading a text message sent by someone your friend went on two dates with, constructing a reason for why they would have added an ellipsis after “Hey,” knows that creating a narrative out of situations we find confusing is a fundamental part of being a person.

We gossip and we tell stories because that is how we each make sense of the world, with ourselves at the center reaching outward trying to connect with others, to prove to ourselves that we are real, that if anything is true, it is us.