The Good Rumour Project is a social experiment that seeks to invert the more common negative effects of rumour through the construction of a “good rumour” that is systematically spread and tracked as it evolves though the border region of San Diego-Tijuana.

There are normally many negative rumours and much prejudice between people on the two sides of the border. Two rumours have been constructed: One about people in Tijuana that is spread in San Diego, and one about people in San Diego that is spread in Tijuana. In contrast to normal rumours, the “good rumours” have been created in dialogue with the actual subjects of the rumours.

This was achieved by holding focus groups in Tijuana and in San Diego, and by employing the results as material for the construction of the rumours. The “good rumours” were spread though a multifaceted strategy that combines some of the latest and most advanced marketing techniques––viral/word of mouth marketing––with structures borrowed from rumour theory as well as recent research on small-world networks and social network analysis.
The project is initiated by Swedish OMBUD.