Good old gossip has got a bad name and it’s not fair. Gossip has its place. In fact, research shows it’s important.

So all you hoity toities who are above sharing a story or two about someone else, well, it turns out you’ve got it wrong.

People hear the word gossip and automatically think it’s something bad and nothing to engage in. The thing is everyone gossips unless they are really, really anti-social.

What people shouldn’t do is revel in hearing or telling unsubstantiated information that hurts other people. That’s bad gossip.

The trouble is deciding what kind of gossip would bother someone else. Some people are so sensitive that sharing even the most inoffensive tidbit about their personal life might upset them. Others are able to use the line, “I’ll just consider the source” and move on.

The topic of gossip arose this week when a local woman settled a lawsuit against Royal Inland Hospital and three nurses whom she claimed shared private information about her medical condition.

Whether the nurses actually gossiped inappropriately was never proven because the case never went to court. It would have been interesting to hear how a judge would have ruled on the evidence, particularly if the information were only shared among other medical people.

First, the plaintiff would have had to prove that those three nurses did talk about her case and two, that they had no right to discuss her personal details.

But we’ll never know. It would have been a fabulously juicy trial, but no such luck. An out-of-court settlement once again got in the way of a good story.

Instead, this newspaper penned a fair-minded editorial cautioning people about the dangers of gossip. While the editorial made many good points, it took the position that all gossip is bad.

The topic has actually been heavily analyzed in psychological circles and the conclusion largely is that gossip is an extremely important aspect in how we communicate and learn a lot valuable information.

The hospital case, aside, because we know very little about it, here’s my defence of gossip.

First, let’s look at how The Concise Oxford Dictionary defines the word itself.

Gossip: a. easy or unconstrained talk or writing especially about persons or social incidents; b. idle talk; groundless rumour.

That suggests gossip is about sharing news and what’s so wrong with that, providing you don’t get into the groundless rumour part. But that would be considered a lie, not gossip, and potentially slanderous if it were untrue and damaged someone’s reputation.

Gossip, even negative information, helps people learn things about someone else that may be helpful. For example, a teenager tells her friend the boy she is about to date has a habit of dropping girls after a week. That helps the teenager make a better-informed decision about something that could end in heartbreak.

If someone looking for work is told a potential supervisor has a reputation for bullying women, that’s good information for the job seeker to know.

Psychologists also say not participating in gossip can actually be unhealthy because people don’t see what’s happening around them. They think they are alone in their problems.

Take this column, as a for instance. Many readers said they enjoyed hearing the trials and tribulations of my life with children because they related. They realized the arguments and issues going on in their homes were happening in someone else’s home too.

When people hear about someone else’s problems it makes their own seem more bearable. It’s particularly helpful when the person who appears to have it all encounters a hiccup because then we aren’t so envious of his or her life circumstances and appreciate our own a little more.

“Oh, I see,” said a colleague when I shared this bit of analysis, “we get to feel better about ourselves by grinding others down.”

She is just far too nice a person. The rest of us, however, do get a sense of relief by realizing we maybe don’t have it so bad after all.

This research of gossip has made me feel a heck of a lot better about the whole issue anyway. Now I don’t have to feel guilty when people I work with tell me I’m the only person they share gossip with because I love it so much. Somehow that has a nasty ring to it.

In my defence, I am a newsperson. It’s my duty to be curious, just as it is my duty to share the news. And now that I know gossip is good, keep those stories coming my way.

Susan Duncan is city editor of The Daily News. Her column appears Fridays. Get that gossip to her by emailing sduncan@kamloops.news.