ABSTRACT
This chapter is about informal communication, the everyday conversations during which we receive, transform, and pass on information. The first section describes a noteworthy example: a rumor that kidnappings of little children did periodically occur in the light, clean, and happy environment of Disneyland. The phenomena of “hearsay” are further analyzed in the second section, which discusses rumor and gossip. Some present-day versions are called “urban folklore” or “urban legends.” The third section asks the question: What is so fundamental about these examples of informal communication (which are often intertwined with the more formal communication of the mass media)? One of the key aspects is that it inserts an element of “continuous mutation” into the vast ocean of mutual exchange. Stories we tell each other change all the time. Some variations do better, spread, and multiply, whereas others fade away.
