Looking at gossip and manipulation

1st Party -- the gossiper
2nd Party -- the subject of the gossip
3rd Party -- recipient of the gossip

Gossip is a form of manipulation, prevalent in almost all community/societal relationships.
Where 3 or more are simply gathered, there's often gossip.

Let's look at the 3 targets of gossip manipulation:

TARGET: 2nd party
The manipulation of a 3rd party by speaking of the 2nd party in such a way as to create an image of the 2nd party that is advantageous to you, the 1st party.

TARGET: 1st party
The manipulation of the 1st party by the 1st party itself; the first party manipulates their own feelings involving the 2nd party (unresolved issues, revenge, politicking, etc..) through the use of a 3rd party as a sounding board.

TARGET: 3rd party
The manipulation of the 3rd party by the 1st party through the use of the 2nd party. Examples of such are trying to make the 3rd party think you are: cool, interesting, likeable by comparison, etc...

Of course all three maybe targeted concurrently. Interestingly enough the centrality of all gossip is the serving of the self (the 1st party).