Do Offline Gossiping Behaviours Translate onto Facebook Behaviours? A Correlational Design Exploring the Relationship Between Gossiping and Facebook Usage

Technological advances over the past decade have revolutionised the way humans communicate, particularly with the introduction of ‘Facebook’. As gossip dominates interpersonal interactions, contemporary ways to communicate may have influenced gossiping behaviours. However, there is no current research that draws upon relationships between offline gossiping behaviours and their potential translation onto Facebook use. The present research aimed to investigate whether or not there are relationships between offline gossiping behaviours, such as the Tendency to Gossip, Functions of Gossip and the Motives to Facebook Use. In an online questionnaire study, 149 participants (33 males and 116 females, with a mean age of 26.23) participated via opportunity sampling. Four questionnaires measuring gossiping and Facebook behaviours were completed and responses were analysed using Pearson’s r correlational analysis and multiple regressions. To summarise the current study’s findings, there were several positive, significant correlations found between Tendency to Gossip/Functions of Gossip and the Motives to Facebook Use, and significant predictors were identified. Most commonly, the voyeuristic uses of Facebook that seek information about others, such as Photographs, Social Investigation and the Newsfeed were highly correlated with offline gossiping behaviours. However, there were no significant correlations between time spent on Facebook and offline gossiping behaviours. These findings suggest there is a relationship between gossiping behaviours and Facebook use, highlighting a need for further directed research into these relationships