Gossip? or concern?

In this age of WhatsApp chats and statuses, news and information quickly gets passed around. I'm not sure if this is a good or bad thing. I suppose it's some of both. However, I think it can quickly turn into gossip. 

Messages telling of a tragedy or someone's personal pain are passed around with "Let's keep them in our prayers." We need to be careful we're not using that as a pretense to spread news. If it's someone we're not personally acquainted with, does it need to be broadcasted? When not much is known about a situation and we contact someone who is more involved to find out details, isn't that just to gratify our curiosity? If we really are only passing the message around so that we can pray for the people involved, we don't need to know all the details. God knows the situation, and all we need to do is ask Him to be with them. He knows what the answer is.

Some people seem to thrive on negative news and being the first to know about happenings. It appears to bring them pleasure to tell someone else, "Did you hear about the accident/disturbing condition/wedding announcement in the _______ congregation?" Usually sentences that start with "did you hear" are followed by some kind of gossip.

Possibly I'm in the other ditch of not being interested in and talking about people enough. It never leaves me with a good feeling when I discuss someone else's failings though. I'm all too aware that I have my own problems and wouldn't want someone else discussing them unless they truly cared and wanted to help me. I don't have time for negativity and drama. What if we used all the energy we put into talking negatively about other people and used it to talk about the good in that person? Or better yet, tell the person themself what you admire about them!

It's tremendously uplifting to receive a genuine compliment and makes both the giver and receiver feel good. That's the kind of news that needs to be shared!