Persistence of Rumors
Sociology of Email Rumors
By Emmanuel TaïebEnglish
PERSISTENCE OF RUMOURS Sociology of electronic rumours
In this article the author aims to establish the link between a corpus of 100 rumours transmitted by e-mail and traditional rumours, conveyed orally. He identifies differences between the two types of rumour and attempts to measure the influence of the medium, not only on the nature of the rumour but also on its process of transmission. He furthermore analyses the systems formed in this context by these narrative genres as they mingle and combine.