Boot

To me, they just slow down the browsing of a thread. I mean, I see their usefulness when you might reveal something in a general thread, but if a thread is titled "Survivor 12/6" or whatever, anybody who hasn't seen the show yet and doesn't want it spoiled has no business clicking on the link anyway. Why have an entire thread where every post is blacked out with spoiler tags?

I suggest that if a thread is titled for a specific episode, then we shouldn't have to worry about spoiler tags.

badger1997

I can understand some of your complaints, but why not just highlight the entire thread. That way you can read the whole thing without having to highlight each spoiler thread individually?

ClarkKentKY

Yeah i know. Someone Bitched me out because i posted a TV guide synopsis once, and one time i got griped at cause i GUESSED at what was going to happen on a show, ... whcih was incorrect.

Smallville doesn't air in my town until friday.... So guess what, i dont' read the smallville thread till after friday night. Go figure.

Tesiae

You know, I don't think you need spoiler tags on threads with the specific date in the subject i.e. I mean you have to be a doofus to go into a thread about a show you haven't watched yet. ;-)

hahn

because it's entirely unreasonable for you to expect someone to resist their urge to click on a link that will OBVIOUSLY contain possible spoilers!

elektra

IMO, if you're posting about a show and you're posting the specific date, no. If someone can't figure out that it means that you're discussing the show that aired on that date, which means you're discussing what happened in the show, then maybe they need to head back to school. When I see a thread titled:

Buffy 11/12/01

That means the discussion is about the show that aired that night and if I haven't watched it yet, I might not want to go into that thread.

If the thread is titled:

Star Trek

Then anyone who is discussing the latest ep of Enterprise should consider spoiler tags because it's possible everyone has not yet watched it and that show is the current flavor and folks may not be expecting to see spoilers.

Patman

Unfortunately, with the time zone difference (and I live ont eh east coast), I see the show earlier, and to respect the later time zoners, I spoilerize my post that are posted in "real time" right after the show so that I don't inadvertently spoil it for the readers who are still waiting for their favorite shows to come on the TV.

I will continue to spoilerize posts until the show has been shown to the west coast folks. That's my policy, and I'll stick with it because I'd rather be too cautious than spoil something for other fans of the shows/movies.

Tesiae

Patman: But that's ridiculous. Why the hell would anyone check a thread for a show they will watch within hours?

Boot

That's exactly what I mean. I'm all for being sensitive about not spoiling a show for someone, but when the thread is directed toward a specific episode, like many of the threads that pop up from week to week, then I think spoiler tags are just unnecessary. If the thread is a general topic thread, then spoiler tags should be used.

Groucho

I say that spoiler tags should not be needed for dated threads. If you're extra worried, put a "(spoiler)" disclaimer in the subject line. Nobody who hasn't seen the show is going to click on the thread...why would they? And even if they do, it's obvious that they don't care about the spoilers.

Yesterday when I clicked on the Survivor thread after the show was over in my area, the entire thread was blacked out with the exception of Patman telling us that he was mad at Brandon. Not a lot of content for somebody who wants to particpate in the thread but doesn't want to be spoiled. come to think of it, the unspoiled part of the thread was actually a spoiler, since it told us that Brandon would do something bad during the show!

In short, putting spoiler tags in dated show threads is a solution to a problem that doesn't exist. The only real effect it's having is making the threads inconvenient to read.

das Monkey

I've brought this up many times, and nothing's changed. It may seem childish, but I just don't read the spoilered comments anymore. I skipped half of that Survivor thread. If it's in SPOILER tags, it should be a spoiler. If it's a dated thread for a show that's already aired, then don't read it if you haven't seen the show. It's that simple.

And I too find the timezone thing silly. I'm not going to spoilerize all Buffy and Star Trek discussions because people in the UK may not have seen the episode yet. Likewise, when a Canadian who has seen the Buffy ep already starts a dated thread on Monday, I don't read it ... until Tuesday. It's not hard. I TiVo a lot of things. I don't expect all of you to spoiler your threads until I've gotten around to seeing it on my TiVo (though I do expect a date or episode number/title so I don't mistakenly enter the wrong thread).

SPOILER tags should be there to keep you from accidentally seeing something you're not supposed to. Like maybe 'Angel' info in a 'Buffy' thread. Or genuine spoiler info about something that hasn't aired yet.

I got really angry before with some people putting spoiler info in thread titles, and I would likely get angry if that started happening again; but with all respect, this SPOILER usage has gone beyond cautious and is now just silly. If you SPOILER things that aren't spoilers, then the SPOILER is useless, because people will either not read the comments, or get so desensitized to the tag that they highlight everything. I find myself looking at a screen of black wondering ... "should I highlight this? Is it really a spoiler? Or is it a fake spoiler? Pop quiz, hotshot!" So, like I said, I just don't read them anymore, even if I'm 99% sure it's a fake spoiler. Not a good situation.

das

Patman

Well, I think, then, it's time we label the post this way if people really are aversed to spoiler tags:

Title: date: SPOILERS!

Do you really know why I put in spoiler tags on the posts during the broadcast window? It's the same idea as people who just click on anything that interest them and BOOM! they get a virus on their PCs. That's why. You'd think people would exercise their brains in surfing forums, but that's not always the case.

I'm just trying to be as spoiler-free as possible for that broadcast window to avoid hurt feelings due to stupidity. You never have a second chance to make a first impression.
And that goes for viewing a show and discovering what the episode has in store for the viewer.

das Monkey

What I've done when I start a thread is name it something like:

"When Dead Hookers Go Bad VII"

and then in my first post put "SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS" or the like at the top, just in case you couldn't figure out that the thread was about exactly what it said it was about.

And, Patman, I don't think anyone's questioning your motives. It's really nice of you to think of other people's feelings, but like I illustrated above, if the SPOILER tag can't be counted on to be an actual SPOILER, then it looses its effectiveness. As it is now, people have to highlight SPOILERS to find out if they really are spoilers or not ... and that just doesn't work.

das

Patman

I see the glass as half-empty when it comes to posting discussions on shows not fully broadcasted over the entire continent (sorry about being US-centric). I have self-restraint, but I know plenty who are not so restrained, and I find that the blacked out discussions provides me with guilt-free posting, while allowing me to express my reactions/rumination on the episode being discussed.

If you don't like highlighting the spoiler boxes, so be it.

I'll make an effort to clean up the boxes the morning after, once the show has been fully broadcasted.

Dead

This is very well said Patman. Spoiler tags may be inconvenient, but in any thread not clearly labeled as containing spoilers, they should be used at least up to the point where the show has aired in all markets. This is just being courteous to other members.

It's really pretty simple, if you want to discuss a show that a large number of members normally would not have yet seen, use spoiler tags or post in a thread clearly marked as containing spoilers. If someone goes into a thread that is marked as containing spoilers, then they have no reason to complain about open discussion of something that might not have been shown in their time zone.

Tesiae

Very well then folks, just put "Spoliers" after the date tag and let it be the end of this nonsense.

das Monkey

Fine by me if we put SPOILERS in the thread title, but if it's January 7, and you're clicking on a thread called "Buffy Episode January 6" and can't figure out there is going to be discussion of that episode in that thread, you may have bigger problems.

I rarely agree with Groucho , but he said it perfectly ... it's a solution to a problem that doesn't exist. The people on this forum are intelligent enough to know that if they click on the dated thread for a show that's already aired, and they haven't seen it yet, that there will be spoilers in there.

As for what Dead said, dating a thread is a direct implication of spoiler. No one is talking about inconvenience or not being sensitive to others, but if you date a thread, what more do they want?

Personally, I find "Buffy 12/4" to be more informative than "Buffy ***SPOILERS***" anyway. I know exactly what's being discussed in one thread ... the other is a mystery. What's being "spoiled"? Something that aired three days ago?

I'm all for sensitivity, and I don't want to be an a-hole about this, but we're being a little oversensitive. If someone wants to stand up and say that it's confusing to have dated threads, and they have been unwillingly exposed to spoilers in such a thread, then maybe I'll change my tune. But I don't know if that person exists. We're solving a problem that doesn't exist here.

This makes sense to me:

"Buffy 12/4 ***SPOILERS***"
- should be a thread posted before 12/4 giving away info that will air in that episode

"Buffy 12/4"
- should be a thread discussing that episode that has already aired. No one should have to ever employ the SPOILER tag in this thread unless discussing something outside the scope of that episode

"Buffy on UPN"
- could be a discussion about Buffy in general. If someone wanted to post info about the 12/4 ep that had recently aired, it would be nice to see the SPOILER tag

Saying "SPOILERS" in a thread title should imply advance information. To use the term "SPOILERS" on every dated thread is redundant and misleading.

But if that's what people want, I'll do it. But I'm never going to use SPOILER tags in a dated thread for a show that's already aired (that doesn't include syndicated shows where I'm more sensitive, like Buffy on FX or B5 on Sci-Fi). If there's a sign on the gate that says "BEWARE OF DOG", I don't need to hang a sign from the dog's neck saying "BEWARE OF DOG'S MOUTH!"

das

Dead

If it's yesterdays show, or that from a week ago, then I would agree that a spoiler tag shouldn't be needed. But, if the date in the title isn't in the past (today, tomorrow, next week...), then it could cause confusion. For example, if it had today's date, someone may not know if it's an East coast viewer revealing details of what just happened on the show or if it's someone on the West coast anticipating the start of the show. In this case, you should be indicating to people ahead of time if you are revealing something that would spoil the episode for them.

das Monkey

I see your point, but if you're starting a thread in that two hour window between the completion of an East Coast airing and the start of a West Coast airing with no other reason but to proclaim your anticipation for that show ... I dunno ... that just seems really strange to me. I agree completely that anything in the East Coast future should be tagged or refrenced in the subject, but West Coasters aren't stupid ... they know they're three hours behind everyone else. If it's a Tuesday, and we all know Buffy airs on Tuesday, and a thread pops up called "Buffy 12/4/01" about 2 hours before it airs on the West Coast, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to know what's in that thread.

But I do see your point. Perhaps a standard is necessary. By far, the most popular usage of threads in this forum is discussion of specific episodes that have just aired. I would submit that the standard for discussing an episode that has aired is simply "TITLE - DATE". Anything else should have more clarification like:

"Buffy 1/8/02 - *** SPOILERS ***" would be for a future episode

"Anyone looking forward to tonight's (12/4) Buffy???" could be an anticipation thread where SPOILER tags should be employed.

But a simple show title and date (that's almost always the current day or the following morning) should directly imply a discussion of that specific episode that has aired.

I'm willing to bend and post redundant SPOILER warnings all over the place ... I just don't want there to be a desesitizing of the SPOILER tag. Sure, you could take antibiotics all the time to keep from getting a cold, but soon your body will adapt, and you'd be much more vulnerable to illness. It's the same thing here. If you SPOILER stuff that doesn't need it, people won't pay attention to it anymore and then accidentally read a SPOILER they shouldn't have thinking it was just another non-spoiler post with unnecessary tags.

das

Dead

I guess that you didn't mean for that to be funny, but for some reason it cracked me up!

das Monkey

I'm glad you find my logic laughable ... you're not alone.

das

elektra

My head is spinning from reading this thread. If this keeps up, I'm happy to just go back to the Otter Farm. Some of this is getting absolutely ridiculous.

Wizdar

Weighing in late (due to the time difference?) from the Left coast. Personally I don’t click on a dated thread until after I’ve seen that particular episode. I honestly don’t see a reason for spoiler tags in this case, and in fact I find them irritating. Patman, thanks for your concern, but I’m irritated and das isn’t reading, so good luck on the “guilt-free” posting.

I’m all for having consideration for the other guy. I feel that being courteous is a dying art in society today. But for everyone to have to be put off just to spare the feelings of an imaginary complainant is silly.

There comes a time when people have to take credit for their own actions (another concept that is losing popularity). People don’t “wander” into threads by accident.




I'll be heading back to The Farm myself before I catch a cold.

Dead

No, no... not your logic, the logic was fine. I just thought that using a cold and antibiotics for the comparison was funny because they seemed so otherwise unrelated to TV and the TV Forum.

Gandalf

I absolutely support the move of not using SPOILER tags in dated episode threads. It should be obvious that the threads will contain spoilers, so if you didn't see the episode, don't read the thread.

I have yet another reason to hate spoiler tags: I use Opera as a browser, and highlighting the SPOILER section, does not reveal the text! :-( Anybody else has this problem? Is it a color setting that I could change? 'Cause cutting and pasting the spoiler parts becomes quickly annoying...