It was a sunny Sunday afternoon when I decided to create a Tumblr blog. At first I was only planning to post a bunch of photos of cute outfits and pretty models, but I decided a basic fashion blog wasn’t original enough for me. I had another, more interesting, idea. Inspired by my love of the show “Gossip Girl,” I decided to write about the scandalous and drama-filled lives of the people in my school. Little did I know that the blog I’d created with just the click of a button was going to change my life.

My first article was about a new couple in our grade. I wrote that they’d been spotted making out next to school, and I commented on how “adorable” they were. I also wrote articles about friends becoming enemies and couples breaking up – childish stories that weren’t drama-filled or very exciting. Only a few friends visited my blog, and I was excited to get five or six hits a day.

Then one Tuesday morning I had the idea of writing my blog URL in pink ink on little pieces of paper. I made twenty or so and scattered them around the ninth-grade locker area, stuffing a few inside random lockers. By the end of the week, every ninth grader was talking about my blog. Everywhere I went, peers yelled “Gossip Boy!” I didn’t even have to search for stories to write about; I’d started receiving tons of anonymous tips.

But as my blog became more popular, people in my grade also began to send me anonymous messages bashing and insulting each other. These made me realize how mean people could be, and gave me a whole new view of some of my classmates. Sometimes I’d get hate mail too, but despite the negative comments, my need to keep writing was almost uncontrollable. My blog made me happy, and it also made me feel like I had power over others. Just by writing an article, I could make or break someone’s reputation.

People I had never talked to before would come up and tell me how much they loved “Gossip Boy.” Some of the people who complimented my blog became my close friends. At first I had some doubts about their sincerity; maybe they were only using me in order to get the latest gossip. But soon I realized that wasn’t the case at all. They just loved this sassy and exciting side of me I had never shown before.

I lost a few good friends, though, who thought my new hobby was a horrible idea. They told me it’d become a source of chaos, drama, and fights in our school, and they were right: my blog did create a lot of tension. For instance, I once wrote about a guy who had cheated on his girlfriend, but I had no idea that the girl wasn’t aware of her boyfriend’s infidelity. The next day, after learning about it through my article, she broke up with him in front of everyone. It was dramatic!

Sometimes I wrote things that were too harsh and insensitive, and after the fact, I’d feel guilty. After I described how a popular girl had lost most of her friends, I didn’t dare look her in the eye. I remember feeling sick when I heard people talking about the post the next day. My article had been nasty, and I couldn’t hide behind anonymity. Everyone knew I was Gossip Boy. I spent hours debating whether to keep the post up or delete it. Eventually, I took it down. When I created my blog I promised myself that I’d express my thoughts without being a bully. But that post definitely crossed the line. That experience made me realize that words do hurt and I had to be really careful about the content of my blog. In the end, writing about someone losing her friends wasn’t gossip; it was just mean.

Generally, though, there was a big difference between the cruel messages I received and the posts I’d write. Malicious, hateful gossip made up three-quarters of my inbox, but I chose not to spread it. “Gossip Boy” made me feel good about myself, not because I was writing about people’s personal lives, but because I managed to prove that gossip doesn’t have to be hurtful to be exciting. One of my most popular posts was about an accomplishment a girl in my grade had achieved: getting into a prestigious dance school in Manhattan. After its success, I started to adopt a new style of writing, creating positive articles that were still entertaining and successful.

Many of my peers never understood my blog and still speak negatively about it. They don’t look past the silly content of my articles to acknowledge how much time and effort it took to write them. What they don’t understand is that I write for fun and amusement. My blog is a way for me to develop my writing skills and share my love of journalism with the world. Even though sometimes I exaggerate in my writing and don’t write the real truth, it’s only to add some dramatic effect and keep people coming back.

The negative feedback from some of my peers only made me stronger. It taught me not to worry so much about what people think of me. Now, thanks to my blog, I am seriously considering a career in journalism or news reporting. Who knows – maybe I’ll be the next Perez Hilton. I’ve learned that I have a passion for sharing news with the world, and I’ve loved how I’ve learned to express myself through my articles. Gossip Boy wasn’t my alter ego; it was me.

I still have my infamous “Gossip Boy” blog. It contains over 250 articles and has racked up more than 80,000 visits since it was created. Not too bad for a hobby I started on a boring Sunday afternoon.