People use information as leverage and even mild self-promotion all the time. Sharing news about friends hints that you're popular enough to be privy; office tidbits suggest you're plugged-in. Swapping family news makes you central to these important ties.
Negative information is particularly potent. In sharing it, you form a mini-alignment with your confidant against the person you're dogging or whose confidence you're betraying. Good news makes groups, bad news makes factions.
Carolyn Hax
