ABSTRACT
Rumor, for better or worse, is an important species of informal communication, yet it takes conceptual effort to distinguish it from related phenomena such as gossip and small talk. Early rumor research focused on how rumors emerge in crisis situations, such as natural disasters and wartime. While the emergence of a rumor reflects a collective attempt to resolve an ambiguous social situation, individuals are not merely passive recipients of rumors: they also decide whether or not to pass them on. A well-constituted epistemic community may thus engage in active filtering of information; this renders the question of whether (and when) rumors are reliable very much an empirical matter.
