Spoilers Poll (Poll about spoilers not a poll containing spoilers)

[TheSword]

Whereas I think expecting other people to constrain what they're talking about because someone has an extremely elevated level of what they consider "spoilers" is unreasonable. So there we are.

What is an ‘elevated’ consideration of spoilers vs the normal level and of spoiler. Is the basic bog standard spoiler in debate?

 

[billd91]

I’m sure there are lots of politeness that you consider reasonable. You just don’t see this as one of them.

There are, in fact. But just because something isn't a particular level of politeness doesn't make it impolite or discourteous. This isn't a binary designation. I politely avoid spoilers in threads that are clearly flagged as spoiler avoidant. I don't spoil movies as I walk out of them. I generally avoid spoilers about recently released or published works unless the thread clearly opens that door already like the What If... thread here which is spoiler-heavy and untagged.

But labeling spoiler-laden discussion of or even a passing reference to a work that's been out in the public for decades as unpolite or discourteous is an unreasonable expectation. Nobody's intentionally spoiling it for you or anybody else. It's neither specifically courteous nor discourteous.

 

[CleverNickName]

Honestly, I don't mind spoilers. Meaning, I don't mind if something gets spoiled for me on the Internet. I won't go looking for spoilers, and I won't click on anything with "Spoilers!" in the title, but I'm also not going to blow a fuse if someone on Facebook posts "Oh wow, I didn't know Rosebud was a cyborg!" and I happen to see it while browsing through my feed. We shouldn't be surprised if Society starts discussing popular Media on social media. Right?

Besides. It's just a book/movie/video game/whatever...it's not worth the stress of trying to keep secrets from myself.

I still can't believe that Rosebud was a cyborg!

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

you can talk in general terms, but if you’re going to talk specifics you should give advance warning. It’s really not difficult.

But ... no. Look, this was already a tired conversation in the 90s, when it was on usenet.

It was a subject of (deserved) mockery within the past decade-
Key & Peele in 2015:

Portlandia in 2013:


A while back, you (correctly) said it was about being g polite. I agree! It's an issue of etiquette. But not harm. Not personal autonomy. Not ... bullying.

Politeness and etiquette. Which means that we follow rules of reason. Do we go in and watch a movie, and then start shouting out the twist to people coming into the theater? No.

Can we discuss things that are not only old, but also part of popular culture at this point (rosebud is a sled)? Yeah.

 

[billd91]

I still can't believe that Rosebud was a cyborg!

There are other interpretations that are not Eric's grandma-friendly. I would consider them very small minority interpretations, though.

 

[Thomas Shey]

What is an ‘elevated’ consideration of spoilers vs the normal level and of spoiler. Is the basic bog standard spoiler in debate?

Well, I can pretty much promise you that with most people if you use "spoiler" to reference talking about events in a movie that came out 40 years ago, they're going to assume you're being ironic.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

So, yes and no. I think that depends on how close the adaptation is going to hew to the original work.

For the Marvel Cinematic Universe, for example, what they do is only a very loose adaptation of the original comics. Referencing the comics in discussion may be amusing, but usually doesn't give away anything about the plot of the work. In discussing the upcoming Wheel of Time series, I expect discussing the plot of the book is very likely to give up elements of the TV series.

In the end, this is really a Golden Rule question. We are talking with actual people, and we should have sufficient respect for them to not ruin their experience because we are thoughtless or showing off how much we know about a source material.

Please don’t assign motivations to me just because you disagree with me.

My position has nothing to do with showing off. I’m also quite aware that my fellow posters are actual people. My stance is about reasonable norms and expectations.

So, for a Wheel of Time TV Series thread, I would expect folks to either set up a separate thread that included book spoilers, or use spoiler blocks when mentioning parts of the books that haven't made it to screen. However, once that series starts, when an episode airs, folks should feel free to discuss the content of that episode. People like me who don't binge watch or often watch shows the day an episode drops, should avoid the thread until they are up-to-date.

Again I mostly agree, except that IMO the norm is and should be to speak freely unless the space has been designated to avoid spoilers.

I don’t actual think it’s good for society/media to even have a widespread expectation of the sort of novelty that underpins the idea of spoilers. “Oh I found out the twist in The 6th Sense. Why bother even watching it, now?” Is just not soemthing that should be encouraged as a mindset. However, I don’t imagine I can change peoples minds, so I will respect requests to avoid spoilers.

I won’t ever consider myself beholden to assume such a request barring an explicit indication otherwise, however.

 

[TheSword]

So interestingly after 7 days the majority of people 63% felt that the potential for spoilers should be mentioned in the thread title or more stronger measures (4.8%)

37% felt the onus should be on the reader to avoid the spoilers or just didn’t care if they spoiled something.

Interesting. Im tempted to repeat the poll on some other platforms if I can.