The public sharing and private consumption of celebrity gossip: A multifunctional, simultaneous and interactive experience

Research has demonstrated that gossip, and specifically celebrity gossip, functions to meet many social and individual needs, yet the identified needs and functions differ and often conflict in the literature. The current study focused on examining the lived experiences of working mothers as they publicly share and privately consume celebrity gossip. Three focus groups and six individual interviews were conducted with mothers who enjoy sharing and consuming celebrity gossip. A Grounded Theory approach was used to analyze the data, revealing eight emergent categories. The emergent categories reveal a lived experience of celebrity gossip, a complex and dynamic process beyond yet inclusive of meeting needs. This study revealed that working mothers experience celebrity gossip as an active and engaging process involving public sharing and private consumption that includes meeting both social and individual needs, which are often interchangeable and simultaneous.