Decide if there is a more ethical way of achieving your goal. Unless the rumor is true, starting a rumor involves lying and deceiving people that trust you. It may not be worth it.
Try to make the topic one that is relatable to the most people. Most people generally have anxieties about their safety, how they look, money. For example, if you spread a rumor that you won the lottery you would probably find it spread pretty fast and influenced the way a lot of people acted around you.
To give an example, if you were to start a rumor that someone had cosmetic surgery, you’d have very little details to distract from the actual rumor. If you say someone had paid $8,000 to have their lips done to look like exactly like Angelina Jolie after her first surgery, not her second one; it gets confusing. Is the rumor that she spent a lot of money, that she had surgery, or that she has some weird obsession with Angelina Jolie? Just keep it simple instead.
It is also a good idea to point to a big gossiper as the origin of the rumor. Often times a big gossip spreader will talk so much that they can’t remember what they heard and who it came from.
Try making a fake account on social media and spread the rumor online. Since almost everyone is connected through social media, rumors can spread very fast. Leave evidence around. This can be difficult, but it will go a long way towards helping your rumor. If you start a rumor that you saw your target eating dog food, it may seem too silly to others. But if you also plant pieces of dog food around the target’s desk or in their lunch and people notice, your rumor will suddenly seem quite believable and take off.
As an example, if you say someone lost an arm in a car accident, the rumor won’t hold up very long when the person is seen with both their arms intact. However, if you start a rumor that someone hit a homeless person with their car, it may be very difficult to prove as a lie.
