names instead of real names. Nevertheless, the Upper East Siders do not have difficulty in guessing whom it is talking about, such as S for Serena and B for
Blair, because they are popular figures that the website always tells about. As have been explained previously, it is mostly about Serena‘s return
which has become the gossips among the characters. The gossips in the website are overly destructive for the gossipee, Serena. It mentions some information why
Serena is back. In fact, the reasons mentioned are merely invalid. The writer in this research classifies them into two parts based on the content of the gossips.
a. Gossip about Serena van der Woodsen’s Disease
The first gossip is about the disease had by Serena. The writer of the website writes that there is someone who is like Serena goes to an STD clinic. In
fact, the girl may be someone else. The writer of the website does not directly write that it is Serena van der Woodsen. She uses her initial name, S instead.
However, the readers of the website may be over thinking that it is Serena van der Woodsen whom the writer talks about.
Also seen: a girl bearing striking resemblance to S, coming out of an STD clinic on the Lower East Side. She was wearing a thick black wig and big
sunglasses. Some disguise. And very late last night, S was seen leaning out of her bedroom window over Fifth Avenue, looking a little lost. p. 38,
Also saw that same wigged girl going into STD clinic downtown. If that is
S, she‘s definitely got a bad case of the nasties. Oh, and in case you‘re wondering why I frequent the neighbourhood of the STD clinic
—I get my hair cut at a very trendy salon across the street. p. 102,
As Spacks 1985: 4 writes, this kind of gossip is really destructive for the
gossipee. In the story, S represents Serena van der Woodsen. Therefore, the gossips in GossipGirl.net destruct Serena‘s reputation because other characters
mentioned in the story tend to define S as Serena. The fact that Serena loses her
best friends and she is being frustrated when she is back to Upper East Side is the evidence that Serena‘s reputation is destroyed. The reason why most of the
characters avoid her is not known by Serena. In fact, it may be because of the website because the website is popular among the characters. The evidences of the
previous statement are done in the last subchapter in this analysis.
b. Gossips about Serena van der Woodsen’s Baby in France
The second gossip from GossipGirl.net is about Serena‘s baby. The writer of the website narrates that S has a baby in France. This is the same as the
previous gossip from the website. Even though the writer just uses S in her story, the other characters seem to define S as Serena van der Woodsen.
This time, though, Claire surprises him by asking if he‘s heard that S not only got pregnant last year, but that she gave birth in France. Her baby‘s
name is Jules and he is alive and well and living in Marseilles. p. 65,
―Also caught S at the post office, mailing a big package. Barneys baby clothes for her little French tot, maybe?‖ p. 82. Identically the same as the
previous gossip about Serena‘s disease, this gossip about Serena‘s baby is also destructive. Those gossips are falsehood. The fact that Serena has disease or a
baby is not proven in the story. Telling something wrong about someone definitely endanger hisher reputation.
At last, the writer in this research presents the function of gossips in GossipGirl.net based on the gossiper‘s point of view which is the website itself.
Even though all the gossips in the website are destructive, it does not impede the gossipee directly. This is because the writer of the website never mentions the real
name. The characters in the story are the ones who likely decide which letters
stand for certain names. Beside its destructiveness, those also function as entertainment and information. As Foster 2004: 83-84 argues, those gossips are
overly suitable as what he has classified. Those gossips in the website are widely functioned as a media to gather or disseminate information in an efficient way
among the characters. The writer of the website does not need to do any effort to share what she knows. The characters who are the readers of the website can also
easily acknowledge the information. It also functions as entertainment because it is quite entertaining for the readers who are mostly teenagers. Psychologically,
people in this world cannot neglect the need of gossiping because it is relieving. The satisfaction of having some gossips can provide separated feeling for the
gossipers. The entertainment value of gossips occurs outside the actual change. It can exist solely for the entertainment value of the gossipers. Those gossips in the
website are entertaining for the characters in the story because they can share the gossips to entertain each other consciously or unconsciously.
To give a clearer analysis of the first question in the problem formulation, the writer in this research creates a table covering all the explanation above about
gossips in the story.
Table 1 . Gossips in Cecily von Ziegesar’s Gossip Girl
No. Gossips
Functions From the
Gossipee‘s Point of View
From the Gossiper‘s
Point of View 1.
Gossips among Mrs. Bass, Mrs. Coates, and Mrs.
Archibald Avoidance and
Competition Friendship
2. Gossips among Chuck Bass,
Kati Farkas, and Isabel Coates
Destructive Friendship
3. Gossips among Rain
Destructive Friendship
