1. Rumors
and
Urban
Legends

2. an information
that is
transmitted
INFORMALLY
from anonymous
sources. may be FALSE,
TRUE or
COMBINATION
of truth and
falsehood.

3. arise in situations
where people are
deprived of
information they
are given.
substitute
for hard
news

5. The evolution of a
rumor depends on:
content
number of people
attitude

6. Different roles of people
in spreaDing a rumor
decision makers
messenger interpreter
skeptics audience
protagonist

7. Rumor
Form of communication in which people
pull their resources to construct a
meaningful interpretation of an
ambiguous situation
In doing so they may sometimes
IMPROVE the accuracy of the rumor
rather than DISTORTING the truth.

8. REALISTIC but UNTRUE stories
with an ironic twist concerning
recent alleged events.

9. popular stories alleged to be true and
passed from individual to individual
via oral or written (e.g. forwarded
email) communication. Typically,
said stories concern outlandish,
humiliating, humorous, terrifying, or
supernatural events — events which,
in the telling, always seem to happen
to someone other than the teller.

10. Three necessary ingredients:
they have a strong story appeal.
they seem believable.
teach a lesson