The rules of television and movie spoilers on social media

When it comes to spoilers, it is the wild west out there?

Whether it’s binge watching, streaming or PVR’ing, people are consuming television, movies and sports differently than they did years ago.

With a massive amount of viewing options available, viewers are no longer chained to watching an episode on a set schedule.

Because of this, it’s also easier for spoilers to creep up into people’s Facebook and Twitter pages.

But what are the rules of social media spoilers? Is there an online version of a “statute of limitations” when it comes to watching television shows? Or is it pretty much the wild west when it comes to spoilers nowadays?

Social media has given viewers an easy way to share their opinions about their favourite shows.

For example, Game of Thrones fans can find the latest news and spoilers about the show on winteriscoming.net. The site has a strong social media presence with over 80,000 Twitter followers and 128,000 Facebook fans.

The comedy show Portlandia even did a sketch about the heightened sensitivity to spoilers. Spoiler alert: the video below contains spoilers about a lot of shows like The Wire, Breaking Bad and Boy Meets World.

There is also the the gluttonous act of television binge watching — going through several episodes of a show in a single stretch. Why watch one episode of Orange Is The New Black when you can watch 12? This is another sure way to ruin exciting plots as viewers watch it at different times.

The night before House of Cards Season three was released, former U.S. President, Barack Obama tweeted a warning to his followers that showed just how big a deal spoiler fear is: “Tomorrow: @HouseofCards. No spoilers, please.”

How to avoid

While spoilers have always existed, these new online platforms multiply their prevalence. If you have a spoiler-phobic personality, there are steps you can take to help keep it a secret.

• Avoid social media the day after a plot twist.
• Filter, mute or unfollow certain people on social media who usually post spoilers.
• Unfollow television and movie fan pages, as they tend to leak out information.
• Download apps that help block television and sports spoilers in your social media feed.
• Download a Facebook post filter.

We can hope that our friends, family and co-workers won’t ruin movies and television shows we enjoy. But the best thing you can do in your mean time is plug your ears and scream “NO SPOILERS!”