Egyptians love gossip. If I could just end the article right here, I would. It says it all! We do love to talk. Let me just clarify this a little, there are some who talk just for the sake of pure entertainment. Others take it as serious as Judge Judy’s face and treat it as crucial information. And finally, the worst kind of gossip, the ones exchanged for a purpose of harming a person.

 I’m not going to discuss whether gossip is bad or wrong or whatever. I would like to take it from a different angle. What if you were the person being talked about? Generally speaking, people don’t like it when others talk about them (unless you’re a Kardashian, then you need to be studied). Yet they are more than willing to talk about people’s business and act as holy judges for those in question. That in turn takes a negative toll on the person being talked about. It makes you question everything and everyone surrounding you. It eats away at your ability to trust and open up to people.

Imagine being a celebrity, talked about and judged all the time for every action. When we watch celebrities on TV whining about how they really just want some privacy; we instantly feel like saying “Bi**h please! You’re famous. Deal with it!” What we don’t consider is the state of being constantly talked about and having your personal life out there for everyone to dissect. Can you imagine going through a break up and having everyone discuss whether you deserve better or not or if it was your fault?!



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That being said, there are those who take it a step further. They create “public scrutiny” in their own heads! Yes. They think everyone is talking about them and what they do and start acting accordingly; poor souls, suffering from “Faux-Celebrity syndrome”. The question here is who cares?! Probably no one and neither should you! It’s no way to live your life if every step will be measured out of fearing what people might/might not say. Your life, your actions, your mistakes and it’s no one’s business!

People are just curious about how others live their lives. It gives them a way to measure up their own life to someone else’s. The invasion of social networks really gave that a boost. Scrolling through our newsfeed to see who did what and the latest happenings. For the most part it’s just to be updated but then there are those profiles we only visit to confirm or refute something we overheard. Not to mention discuss summer profile pictures and who made it to the hot list and who should get a butt lift! Recent research shows that social media users tend to overestimate other people happiness. It’s natural since you would much rather share and post a happy story or a picture of you than a sad one.

I remember a scene in Pretty Woman where Julia Roberts says to Richard Gere “The bad stuff is easier to believe. You ever notice that?” I always found that line to be very real and very interesting. The most scandalous and sensational stories are usually the bad ones. They shock people and make them feel better about themselves and their lives. It allows them to pity those they once envied and break that differentiating barrier that they created out of jealousy.  

People talk. I even just sort of talked about someone through this article. See, its effect is contagious! Once we admit to that fact, many things fall into place. You won’t sweat it as much if people talk about you. After all, image is nothing but an illusion for you to control but it shouldn’t be a daily struggle either. Just try to keep the dramatic break downs private; no one wants to see those (we just want to hear about them).