I want to know why people gossip. Historically, socially, politically?Does gossip transcend borders? Does it exist in some fashion in every culture? Is it actually more necessary than I think?

I was with a group of people (read: girls) yesterday and all of a sudden they all disassembled and realigned their atoms into a swarm of bees. I didn't know what to do, their stingers were all poised and possibly poisoned, so I stood really still and hoped that forgot me. The interesting thing though, was not how fierce their gossip was, but the route which it flew. They used facebook as a vehicle for their maliciousness. They commented on pictures, statuses, interests and every other sort of fragmentary piece of information that makes its way onto the book of faces. I just don't get it. I also don't get why gossip is not strictly, but in general, a practice among females. I can't think of male-patterned gossip, but maybe I'm being blind and we do gossip, albeit in a more subtle fashion.

So why do people gossip? Is it a power thing? Self-esteem? And I'm sorry but I've just realized I've used the word "gossip" rather negatively thus far, but might there be good gossip? I don't see why not. I guess it would make sense that positive rumors made their way around the circuit as often as negative ones. Wouldn't that be a nice world to live in? One where you are always hearing about how great people are. "That Tim Caldwell, did you hear he gives half his paycheck to charity?"

Historically, what has been the role of gossip in society? Well I imagine at one point it was the best form of news, before print distribution there must have only been word of mouth. I wonder if that's where the game telephone originated as well. So where does gossip stand today, a point in time where news travels faster than we can speak? Sites like Perez Hilton have launched gossipers (the malicious kind) to national prominence and there is a whole mess of people who make money by getting footage of celebrities on the street in sweatpants. And why?

Maybe gossip began as a fun little game to imagine what was going on behind closed doors, back at a point in history when privacy meant a bit more than it does today. Is gossip at all like open-software? Might it be an intelligent meme-like substance that is working to break down every final lego of privacy we try and hold on to? What does gossip mean in a completely open society where all the walls are made of glass?

Is there any point of barring ourselves from gossip or should I have joined the swarm of bees?