Word of Mouth and Exaggeration

Interesting post at The Church of the Customer this week. It is concerning the velocity of bad word of mouth. What I find more interesting is the fact that 2nd and 3rd level removed people that repeat WOM tend to exaggerate it. I am not surprised, I have been guilty of that myself, but usually in a positive way. As much as I try to be truthful, it is easy to draw conclusions and add them to a story. For example, I was recently talking about someone that is generating a large income from selling ink. He used to have a real job, but eventually started doing so well that he is able to focus on just his websites. I do not know how much he makes, but I am assuming it is a lot because he quit a good job. So how did I exaggerate the story? I told a group he was making 6 figures. He might be, I do not know. He probably comes close to that if it is not true. My point is, people will embellish your story so implying something positive and big and leaving something for the imagination is probably a good thing. For those of you reading this, don't worry, I have never lied to you. :)