Fair Weather Friends

Please tell me this-- when was it ever okay to pry into other people's personal business? I understand that we, as humans, like to gossip, like to feel as if we have some type of valued information that somehow gives us points on an imaginary "cool scale." But doesn't it seem that gossiping disregards the person that you're referencing? Perhaps I am the only one that thinks this way, but I feel that if you talk about someone as if they'll never find out, you are almost saying that you don't care about that person- their privacy, their trust, etc. I have never been someone who enjoys bashing my friends or enjoys spreading rumors about them-- that's why they are my friends and not just some acquaintance. I am slightly closed off to most people; but if I view someone as a part of my friend circle, it is because I think the world of them. I chose them as one of the people I would hang out with when I needed someone to talk to or wanted a teammate on whatever venture I was about to embark on, and vice versa. Why would I want to hurt them? I have abnormally thick skin for a girl; it takes a great deal to really upset me. But at a certain point, after multiple different people do the same thing, one wonders if anyone else really is in a friendship for the actual friendship or if they are merely in it because it is comfortable and easy at the moment. When do you know if something is worth fighting for and when it is not?