Worried about email rumors, the solution is good relationships

In what may have been the most interesting discussion of the day so far here at 11th Annual International Public Relations Research Conference, Karina Garcia-Ruano from Michigan State led a great discussion about the spread of email rumors. She conducted her research among students and tested both positive and negative rumors -- what she called hope vs dread rumors. She also looked at how the relative health of organizational public relationships (OPR) impacted the spreading of those rumors. Turns out that participants with low relationship satisfaction scores showed a stronger intention of transmitting the rumor to other places on the interent than did those with high relationships sastifaction. Additionally, respondents with good relationships with the organization were more lily to verify dread rumors than those with bad relationship scores. So if you don't want bad rumors spreading about you, measure your relationships  and make sure they're healthy.