謠言除了具有眾所周知的社會危害，也有協調社會關系的中性功能，主要表現在四個方面:一、謠言表達愿望、宣泄情緒、分攤恐懼、逃避指責，具有明顯的心理撫慰功能。二、謠言是弱者的武器，是他們表達社會抗議的輿論工具。謠言作為公眾情緒的下水道，起到發泄社會積怨、反映社會矛盾、借助輿論集體上書的規諫功能。三、謠言具有凝聚價值共同體的社會功能。謠言是集體認可的一種口頭傳統，這種傳統有助于增強團隊的認同感、凝聚力。四、謠言具有娛樂功能，原生娛樂謠言多以取悅聽眾為目的，虛擬或加工一些趣聞逸事，以純娛樂為主;次生娛樂謠言往往以諷刺、惡搞既有謠言為目的，通過揶揄和嘲諷，對既有謠言和傳謠行為實施打擊。謠言處處表現出雙刃劍的特征，是一種既令人憎厭，又無法割舍的語言民俗。

Rumors，as is known，are of social harms.However，they are also of neutral function of social relation coordination，which is manifested in the following aspects:first，rumors are an expression of public wishes，an outlet of emotions，an apportion of fears，and an evasion from accusation.They can play the role of psychological consolation;secondly，rumors are the weapons of the weak，the meadia conveying their social protests.Rumors，as drains of public emotions，are remonstration ways of venting social grievances，reflecting social contradictions，and collective appealing;thirdly，rumors are of the social function of rallying value communities.They are an collectively recognized oral tradition，which contributes to the sense of group identity and cohesion;fourthly，rumors carry the function of entertainment.Primary entertainment rumors are mostly aimed at pleasing their audience by inventing or working on some anecdotes，with sheer entertaining as their main purpose.Scondary rumors go usually with the aim of satirizing and spoofing the existing ones by way of teasing and sneering，countering their dissemination.Rumors bear themselves the features of a double-edged sword，which are an abominable oral folklore that is hard to part with.