Gossiping, dry snitching, etc, I suppose. Sure. No more than mob reporters like Jerry Capeci and Selwyn Raab. We're basically like the kids in Bronx Tale who watch the mobsters from the stoop and identify them. Except we're adults. It's kind of sad, but it's really fun. Plus you learn stuff. To me, the mob is like westerns. Some people are into cowboys and indians, I find the mafia interesting. It's impossible to tell the story of America in the 20th century without including the mob. It's great reading, great cinema, and great journalism.
I don;t think anyone can take gossiping as ratting. Even getting caught talking on a tape while gossiping, or just having a discussion can happen to anyone. Ratting is one of two things: Out right Sam Gravano style ratting, or Greg Scarpa undercover ratting. It's the giving up of info on another to keep themselves out of prison or for some other sort of gain. What you refer to as Dry Snitching is what Scarpa was doing all those years.
