The Times: The power of the online gossip sites
The internet has once again shown its talent for spreading gossip, but denial can make it worse, says David Rowan
IT WAS the week's hottest celebrity gossip: a false allegation about David Beckham that has spread uncontrolled over the internet.
It made little difference that Beckham chose to deny the "malicious rumours" in an unusually public response on Thursday, for by then it was too late to keep the claims from flying into thousands more in-boxes across Britain, in yet another example of the internet's efficiency at propagating falsehoods.
It is not just celebrities who keep falling victim to the gossip websites. From chief executives to Hollywood directors, the battle is on to retain some control of the web's 24-hour information barrage and, if possible, take advantage of it. One false rumour on a bulletin board or in an e-mail can travel around the world within seconds, and no matter how firmly the claims are denied a corporation's reputation can suffer from a few keystrokes.
Ask executives at the technology firm Emulex, which two years ago lost £1.6 billion of its value within 30 minutes after a news wire issued a false press release about its prospects. On another occasion, the designer Tommy Hilfiger faced threats of boycotts after an internet rumour falsely accused him of racism.
Angus Bankes, co-founder of Moreover, which monitors thousands of websites and discussion groups on behalf of corporate clients, says that the internet's instant global reach has rewritten the rules of PR. "You have to put out retractions all the time, as a false rumour, maybe by a disgruntled employee, or a business rival, can make your share price plummet," he says. "But there are nine million news groups and message boards where a rumour can begin."
Last night, as newsdesks in London fielded dozens of calls about the Beckham story, questions were being asked about where the rumour began. It first came to prominence earlier this month on the gossip website Popbitch, which was contacted by lawyers acting for Beckham and told to remove the statements.
The site said this week: "When the story was mentioned on the Popbitch message board a few weeks ago, we received surprisingly heavy-handed legal pressure from the Beckham camp. Their last letter told us that no one using the site was even allowed to mention David Beckham's name."
It remains unclear who first made the allegations, but another rumour being circulated yesterday identified a Football Association employee whose sister, who works for a PR firm in London, was said to have misinterpreted the sociable mood present during the England team's flight home from the World Cup. But as with many such rumours, there were few official confirmations. An FA spokesman confirmed that the man worked there, but said: "We cannot discuss anything involving the families of members of staff."
The sister was not at work yesterday, and no one was available at her firm to discuss where she was.
Popbitch is just one of thousands of internet rumour sites, from those that speculate over the next corporate failures, such as F****d Company, to those devoted to future Harry Potter films. While internet gossip is ubiquitous, elite gossip sites are so influential owing to their attraction for senior executives and the mainstream media.
Earlier this year, Popbitch beat the tabloids to news of Victoria Beckham's pregnancy and scooped the Financial Times on news that Marks & Spencer would be selling a David Beckham clothing range. It has also beat the mainstream press with news of Madonna's London stage debut, and the fact that she named her son Rocco.
Popbitch centres on a weekly e-mail newsletter and an active message board. Regular users include well-connected people in the music, PR and media industries, although the libellous remarks that they post have attracted legal letters on behalf of celebrities including Jeremy Clarkson and members of the band So Solid Crew.
Although the website claims to be a "pretty amateur operation, run by people in our spare time", it was, in fact, founded by the journalist Neil Stevenson, now the editor of The Face, and his girlfriend Camilla Wright. For obvious reasons they guard their own privacy with some vigour.
But it is the more specialist financial bulletin boards, on sites such as Money Central, that can cause City executives greater stress. And even when a damaging remark is identified, issuing a rebuttal may merely draw attention to it. As Simon Stokes, a partner in the technology department at the law firm Tarlo Lyons, put it: "As a celebrity, people will expect you to be knocked. One might take a view that you have to live with spurious gossip as the price of fame."
[PANEL]
The rumour mill: Where to catch the gossip
www.aint-it-cool.com
Early film previews and on-set gossip
www.eonline.com
Speculation from the entertainment world
www.f****dcompany.com
The next corporate failures
www.the-leaky-cauldron.org
Harry Potter for the complete obsessive
www.drudgereport.com
The original news-rumours site
(The Times, November 30 2002)
IT WAS the week's hottest celebrity gossip: a false allegation about David Beckham that has spread uncontrolled over the internet.
It made little difference that Beckham chose to deny the "malicious rumours" in an unusually public response on Thursday, for by then it was too late to keep the claims from flying into thousands more in-boxes across Britain, in yet another example of the internet's efficiency at propagating falsehoods.
It is not just celebrities who keep falling victim to the gossip websites. From chief executives to Hollywood directors, the battle is on to retain some control of the web's 24-hour information barrage and, if possible, take advantage of it. One false rumour on a bulletin board or in an e-mail can travel around the world within seconds, and no matter how firmly the claims are denied a corporation's reputation can suffer from a few keystrokes.
Ask executives at the technology firm Emulex, which two years ago lost £1.6 billion of its value within 30 minutes after a news wire issued a false press release about its prospects. On another occasion, the designer Tommy Hilfiger faced threats of boycotts after an internet rumour falsely accused him of racism.
Angus Bankes, co-founder of Moreover, which monitors thousands of websites and discussion groups on behalf of corporate clients, says that the internet's instant global reach has rewritten the rules of PR. "You have to put out retractions all the time, as a false rumour, maybe by a disgruntled employee, or a business rival, can make your share price plummet," he says. "But there are nine million news groups and message boards where a rumour can begin."
Last night, as newsdesks in London fielded dozens of calls about the Beckham story, questions were being asked about where the rumour began. It first came to prominence earlier this month on the gossip website Popbitch, which was contacted by lawyers acting for Beckham and told to remove the statements.
The site said this week: "When the story was mentioned on the Popbitch message board a few weeks ago, we received surprisingly heavy-handed legal pressure from the Beckham camp. Their last letter told us that no one using the site was even allowed to mention David Beckham's name."
It remains unclear who first made the allegations, but another rumour being circulated yesterday identified a Football Association employee whose sister, who works for a PR firm in London, was said to have misinterpreted the sociable mood present during the England team's flight home from the World Cup. But as with many such rumours, there were few official confirmations. An FA spokesman confirmed that the man worked there, but said: "We cannot discuss anything involving the families of members of staff."
The sister was not at work yesterday, and no one was available at her firm to discuss where she was.
Popbitch is just one of thousands of internet rumour sites, from those that speculate over the next corporate failures, such as F****d Company, to those devoted to future Harry Potter films. While internet gossip is ubiquitous, elite gossip sites are so influential owing to their attraction for senior executives and the mainstream media.
Earlier this year, Popbitch beat the tabloids to news of Victoria Beckham's pregnancy and scooped the Financial Times on news that Marks & Spencer would be selling a David Beckham clothing range. It has also beat the mainstream press with news of Madonna's London stage debut, and the fact that she named her son Rocco.
Popbitch centres on a weekly e-mail newsletter and an active message board. Regular users include well-connected people in the music, PR and media industries, although the libellous remarks that they post have attracted legal letters on behalf of celebrities including Jeremy Clarkson and members of the band So Solid Crew.
Although the website claims to be a "pretty amateur operation, run by people in our spare time", it was, in fact, founded by the journalist Neil Stevenson, now the editor of The Face, and his girlfriend Camilla Wright. For obvious reasons they guard their own privacy with some vigour.
But it is the more specialist financial bulletin boards, on sites such as Money Central, that can cause City executives greater stress. And even when a damaging remark is identified, issuing a rebuttal may merely draw attention to it. As Simon Stokes, a partner in the technology department at the law firm Tarlo Lyons, put it: "As a celebrity, people will expect you to be knocked. One might take a view that you have to live with spurious gossip as the price of fame."
[PANEL]
The rumour mill: Where to catch the gossip
www.aint-it-cool.com
Early film previews and on-set gossip
www.eonline.com
Speculation from the entertainment world
www.f****dcompany.com
The next corporate failures
www.the-leaky-cauldron.org
Harry Potter for the complete obsessive
www.drudgereport.com
The original news-rumours site
(The Times, November 30 2002)
posted by David Rowan at Saturday, November 30, 2002
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