Talking about Angelina – celebrity gossip on the Internet

<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title> <jats:p>The article uses gossiping about Angelina Jolie on two different celebrity entertainment news sites in order to propose a contextual understanding of online gossip/talk. A contextual reading explains differences between types of talk on the sites in view of the different affordances of the sites, the sites’ particular profiles, the particular invitations to gossip (often in the form of paparazzi photographs), and the different types of users taking part in the discussions. The article discusses the two sites and argues that gossip on one site resembles oral gossip and is performed by a random group of visitors whereas on the other site, Jolie fans perform a double move when talking about Jolie: on the one hand they elevate her and on the other hand they include her in their extended family.</jats:p>