Being the person who doesn’t spread stuff is a kind of power. People trust you with real information.

Reputations for discretion take months to build and one afternoon to lose. When people know something stops with you, they tell you the version they would never post, and that is how you come to know what is really going on rather than the rumour. The cost is small, just the brief glow of having gossip to trade. What you get in exchange is being told the truth.

Let the next piece of news that is not yours end with you. If you have to talk about it, talk to somebody outside the situation entirely.