We are a share-everything generation. Once we experience something we have to immediately tell the world, via social media or the internet. Because of this, avoiding spoilers is almost impossible (unless you live in a bomb shelter with no outside contact). Staying in the loop with the media almost guarantees you will never experience any surprises, twists or anything cool. Building anticipation and putting lots of time into movies, TV shows, video games, and books really allows you to get the most out of that particular story. SPOILER-ALERT: I’m about to explain why spoilers suck.
I’m going to start this article by stating the obvious:
Not everyone watches the premiere episode of a show every week.
This is why they have multiple showings of the new episode, so that people who can’t catch the show at that time can still watch it the same night, but at a different time. Nothing angers me more than 45 people on my Facebook newsfeed spamming IN FULL DETAIL key moments from the newest episode of The Walking Dead moments after the premiere episode ends. Yes, we get it. You watch a show (a mediocre show at best) that millions of other people also watch. Good for you. And by the way, no one cares that you saw it because they were also busy watching it. And if they weren’t, congratulations, you just spoiled it for them. You’re a douchebag.
And don’t give me that bullcrap about, “Well don’t look at Facebook or Twitter at 10 p.m. when the shows ends.” Really? I’m not allowed to look at tweets or my newsfeed because you can’t just tone down the importance or amount of information you spew all over social media? I’m not telling you don’t post anything about a new episode of something. Just don’t freaking type things like “OMG I can’t believe they killed [insert name of a character from a crappy show here]!” Like people even care that you watch it. No one is impressed. And if they are, they probably didn’t even understand what actually happened in the show because they were too busy simultaneously watching Jersey Shore, listening to Creed, and texting someone else watching the show about why they don’t understand what’s going on. It hurts my brain how dull some people are.
Your need for attention is going to only gain you enemies. If you spoil a movie for someone (at least a normal someone) not only will they probably not enjoy that movie in its entirety thanks to you, but they will hate you for it. You are single handedly lowering the chances for that movie to succeed by spoiling key elements to people who haven’t seen it. If you give away the ending to a new movie, some people who read your post may not go out an see it. Multiply that by the increasingly annoying amount of spoiler-enablers, and you are taking money away from that movie. Except for the Fast and the Furious franchise. Idiots just flock to those movies regardless.
Not everyone watches the premiere episode of a show every week.
This is why they have multiple showings of the new episode, so that people who can’t catch the show at that time can still watch it the same night, but at a different time. Nothing angers me more than 45 people on my Facebook newsfeed spamming IN FULL DETAIL key moments from the newest episode of The Walking Dead moments after the premiere episode ends. Yes, we get it. You watch a show (a mediocre show at best) that millions of other people also watch. Good for you. And by the way, no one cares that you saw it because they were also busy watching it. And if they weren’t, congratulations, you just spoiled it for them. You’re a douchebag.
And don’t give me that bullcrap about, “Well don’t look at Facebook or Twitter at 10 p.m. when the shows ends.” Really? I’m not allowed to look at tweets or my newsfeed because you can’t just tone down the importance or amount of information you spew all over social media? I’m not telling you don’t post anything about a new episode of something. Just don’t freaking type things like “OMG I can’t believe they killed [insert name of a character from a crappy show here]!” Like people even care that you watch it. No one is impressed. And if they are, they probably didn’t even understand what actually happened in the show because they were too busy simultaneously watching Jersey Shore, listening to Creed, and texting someone else watching the show about why they don’t understand what’s going on. It hurts my brain how dull some people are.
Your need for attention is going to only gain you enemies. If you spoil a movie for someone (at least a normal someone) not only will they probably not enjoy that movie in its entirety thanks to you, but they will hate you for it. You are single handedly lowering the chances for that movie to succeed by spoiling key elements to people who haven’t seen it. If you give away the ending to a new movie, some people who read your post may not go out an see it. Multiply that by the increasingly annoying amount of spoiler-enablers, and you are taking money away from that movie. Except for the Fast and the Furious franchise. Idiots just flock to those movies regardless.
I couldn't help myself Even Hollywood is getting into the spoiler thing. I actually refuse to watch certain movie trailers because important plot points or key jokes are given away in the trailer. A great example of this is Horrible Bosses. Mind you it’s not a very great movie, but the trailer gave away basically every funny joke (even though they were few and far between) that the whole movie had. I wasted 10 bucks seeing it in theaters. I could’ve just watched the trailer again and saved myself two hours.
Whether people just feel the need to inform others of their opinion or just to gloat, most people usually tell others what they are doing via a digital medium. Unfortunately people don’t think of the consequences or how it might affect others. Its just selfish. They put these shows out there and and give you a number of ways to watch them. It's unnecessary for you to spoil plot points. I think a lot of it has to do with the type of audience the show attracts. About four times during season 3 of The Walking Dead I had multiple people spoil deaths and actions of certain characters immediately following that episode's premiere. Luckily it’s not a show I truly care about or I might have been a little more upset. Game of Thrones just finished up it’s third season, but only two and a half books. There are tons of things to spoil in that story, especially a certain “red wedding” scene. I went through 3 years without that very important scene being spoiled for me. It made it that much more enjoyable and jarring. But I can’t even get through a week without something from The Walking Dead being spoiled. I guess Game of Thrones just has a more considerate and understanding audience. Which is good, because it's way better of a show.
So next time you are about to spam Facebook or Twitter with important details about a story, just stop and think about how you would feel if someone had spoiled that for you right before you watched the episode, movie, or read the book. No, smart-ass, it wouldn’t feel good at all. Especially if it's a property or franchise that you really care about. I swear, if you spoil anything from the final season of Breaking Bad in August, I will come find you.
P.S. Snape kills Dumbledore.
Written by: Kyle Cicilioni
Whether people just feel the need to inform others of their opinion or just to gloat, most people usually tell others what they are doing via a digital medium. Unfortunately people don’t think of the consequences or how it might affect others. Its just selfish. They put these shows out there and and give you a number of ways to watch them. It's unnecessary for you to spoil plot points. I think a lot of it has to do with the type of audience the show attracts. About four times during season 3 of The Walking Dead I had multiple people spoil deaths and actions of certain characters immediately following that episode's premiere. Luckily it’s not a show I truly care about or I might have been a little more upset. Game of Thrones just finished up it’s third season, but only two and a half books. There are tons of things to spoil in that story, especially a certain “red wedding” scene. I went through 3 years without that very important scene being spoiled for me. It made it that much more enjoyable and jarring. But I can’t even get through a week without something from The Walking Dead being spoiled. I guess Game of Thrones just has a more considerate and understanding audience. Which is good, because it's way better of a show.
So next time you are about to spam Facebook or Twitter with important details about a story, just stop and think about how you would feel if someone had spoiled that for you right before you watched the episode, movie, or read the book. No, smart-ass, it wouldn’t feel good at all. Especially if it's a property or franchise that you really care about. I swear, if you spoil anything from the final season of Breaking Bad in August, I will come find you.
P.S. Snape kills Dumbledore.
Written by: Kyle Cicilioni
