User blog:Meltriom/The Power of Rumors - A Meta-analysis

Wow. I mean, wow.

On Monday, 23rd, Kiyoshi Yamasaka sent out a text to all second years at Yasogami to come together and share information about what they knew about the Kazuo case, as well as coming with a plan against future kidnappings. Never did I and Kiyo expect that rumours would have spread further than just among us. The first years and third years caught wind of the meeting.

Of course, none of them knew what really happened during the meeting: the second years just got hissy at each other and broke up into two distinct groups. The two groups were defined by their knowledge:  the people who had experienced the world inside the TV and the people who knew nothing about it. What I'd never imagine is that both these groups would grow in size. More people were introduced to the TV world and the people who didn't, got together to share what little information they had.

Even between the two groups, the dynamics of the groups were not the same. While Kiyo was not part of the group that had gone into the TV, I can feel that those who did developed a sense of camaraderie from helping each other fight and accept their Shadows.

On the other hand, the group that did not know about the TV were very much flinging rocks at each other, accusing each other about not disseminating the information to the public, especially those who had a vested interest in Kazuo well-being before he passed. We saw this in the near-fight between Meigetsu Otori and Shirou Mochizuki. Meigetsu was close to Kazuo before his death and has an interest in solving the case. Shirou has information about the case but has reservations about disseminating the information, especially after he had talked with Kiyo about how there were groups among them that knew more than they had let on.

Then all the finger-pointing snowballs and rolls to 26th April, where an anonymous(?) post on the internet talks about the existence of the TV world. This event has a different effect on the two groups. The group that has already been in the TV is upset at the possible risks of people attempting to verify the authenticity of the rumor. The group that didn't, feels vindicated that there is now an independent source that can verify their suspicions.

Of course, what I've just said is the general atmosphere of the two groups. Individuals in both groups have their own lines of thoughts. Some in the non-TV are also worried as the TV group are. Some in the TV group are willing to share knowledge of the TV world with others, much to the dismay of the other members. The rift between the two has been split even wider because of the actions of certain individuals, especially by the non-TV group attempting to confirm their suspicions with those they assume have gone into the TV.

Apparently, the split between the TV members are much greater than I thought it would be .