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Grapevine (gossip)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

See also Chinese whispers, Gossip

To hear something through the grapevine is to learn of something informally and unofficially by
means of gossip and rumor.

The usual implication is that the information was passed person to person by word of mouth, perhaps
in a confidential manner among friends or colleagues. It can also imply an overheard conversation or
anonymous sources of information. For instance "I heard through the grapevine that Brad was
getting fired."

Contents
 1 Etymology
 2 Grapevine/Informal Communication
 3 See also
 4 References
 5 Further reading

Etymology
In the autobiography of Booker T. Washington, Up From Slavery, Washington says that slaves in the
South kept up-to-date on current events by "what was termed the 'grape-vine' telegraph." He said,

Often the slaves got knowledge of the results of great battles before the white people
“ received it. This news was usually gotten from the coloured man who was sent to the
post office for the mail... The man who was sent to the post office would linger about
the place long enough to get the drift of the conversation from the group of white
people who naturally congregated there, after receiving their mail, to discuss the
latest news. The mail carrier on his way back to our master's house would as
naturally retail the news that he had secured among the slaves, and in this way they
often heard of important events before the white people at the 'big house,' as the
master's house was called.
”
According to Jitendra Mishra:[1]

The term grapevine can be traced to Civil War days when vinelike telegraph wires
“ were strung from tree to tree across battlefields and used by Army Intelligence.[4]
The messages that came over these lines were often so confusing or inaccurate that
soon any rumor was said to come from the grapevine. Usually, grapevines flow
around water coolers, down hallways, through lunch rooms, and wherever people get
together in groups.[5] The lines of communication seem to be haphazard and easily
disrupted as the telegraph wires were, however, they transmit information rapidly and
in many cases faster and with a stronger impact than the formal system allows.
”
The term gained a boost in popularity through its use in the Motown song "I Heard It Through the
Grapevine", a major hit single for both Marvin Gaye and Gladys Knight & the Pips in the late 1960s.

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Grapevine/Informal Communication
The term grapevine communication is often used interchangeably with the term informal
communication. The term originated in the 1860s during the American Civil War. It was used as a
term that described the telegraph lines that were strung through the trees in a manner that resembled
grapevines. It also came to mean informal communication that was not very effective because the
telegraph system was not a reliable source of communication at the time. Almost a century later, it
was discovered that the path of grapevine communication does resemble a cluster of grapes.

It has been shown that informal communication or grapevine communication occurs when formal
communication is not sufficient. Research and studies have concluded that informal communication
occurs either when insufficient of ambiguous information is transmitted through formal
communication. Some organizational theorists feel that some informal or grapevine communication
is needed in organizational life.

The way grapevine communication works is one person, Person 1, sends a message to Person 2 and
Person 3. Then, Person 2 tells Person 4 and Person 5. And Person 3 tells Person 6. Not all
participants within the grapevine send messages. Some participants are just receivers. Liaisons
within an organization usually help facilitate grapevine communication. The use of this type of
communication is common among managers as well as subdivision employees.

The types of rumors that are spread through grapevine communication can be classified into two
groups, spontaneous and premeditated. Spontaneous rumors are spread when people are stressed or
in an untrustworthy environment. Premeditated rumors spread within highly competitive
environments. These two groups can be broken down into four classifications: wish fulfillment,
anxiety, wedge drivers, and home stretchers. These types of rumors can also be spread through other
types of informal network structures such as the single strand chain, the cluster chain, the probability
chain, and the gossip chain.

Jitendra Mishra derived 8 reasons Grapevine communication Exists. Some of the reasons include the
need for faster communication, useful messages transmitted, outlets for imagination and
apprehension, and helps build teamwork and corporate identity. Surprisingly, 75% of all
organizations’ practices, policies, and procedures are shared through grapevine communication.
Studies have shown the employees find informal communication such as grapevine communication
to be more effective than formal channels of communication.

See also
 Rumor, Organizational Communication

References
1. ^ Managing the grapevine., Jitendra Mishra, Public Personnel Management.

Further reading
 Clegg, Stewart R., et al. The SAGE Handbook of Organization Studies. SAGE Publications ,
2006.
 "Heard It Through the Grapevine". (February 10, 1997). Forbes, pp. 22

"Managing the Grapevine". journal excerpt. Public Personal Management. 1990.

http://www.analytictech.com/mb119/grapevine-article.htm. Retrieved 2009-03-05.

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Grapevine (gossip) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Page 3 of 3

 Papa, Michael J., Tom D. Daniels and Barry K. Spiker. Organizational Communication:
Perspective and Trends. SAGE Publications, 2008.
 Porterfield, Donald F. "Organizational Communication Developments from 1960 to the
Present." The Journal of Business Communication (n.d.): 18-23.
 Robbins, Stephen; Essentials of Organizational Behavior (8th ed.) New Jersey: Pearson
Prentice Hall. ISBN 0-13-144571-5.
 Spillan, John E., Mary Mino and M. Susan Rowles. "Sharing Organizational Messages
Through Effective Lateral Communication." Qualitative Research Reports in Communication
(2002): 96-104.
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