I know.

Yucel, M., Sjobeck, GR, Glass, R. Metal . What we know. Hamnut 32, 603-621 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12110-021-09409-5

Explanation

This study was investigating the nature of gossip and how it relates to friendship connections.

To measure how gossip relates to friendship, male and female collegiate competitive rowing (crew) teams (N = 44) noted their friendship ties and their propensity to gossip about each of their teammates.

Using social network analysis, we found that the crew's friend group connections were significantly correlated with their involvement in positive and negative gossip networks.

Higher levels of connectedness among friends were associated with less involvement in spreading negative gossip and with being the target of negative gossip.

A more central connection to a friend group was associated with more involvement in spreading positive gossip and being the target of positive gossip.

These results suggest that the spread of both positive and negative gossip influences friendship connections in social networks.