I don’t see why we need solutions other than simply using spoiler boxes. Proposals of seperate threads or week-early threads - why? If we treat this content as spoilers then just box it in the thread - those who want to read it can, and those who want to can avoid it.
Thanks you mods for clarifying this.
I’m firmly in the camp of people who strenuously avoid “the Next Week On” previews at the end of Lost, 24, etc.
Next week on Citizen Kane - IT’S A SLED
Ditto. I always feel like the existing threads could be split into “reviews of the just-aired episode” and “speculation about future episodes” anyway. This way, we can do exactly that without cluttering up the forum - threads will just start out as “speculation” threads and then morph into “review” threads once the episode airs.
This, by the way, was why the argument “why not just avoid the spoiler threads entirely?” argument never made sense to me, as someone who considers promos to be spoilers. I like reading what other people thought of the recent episode, and I like posting my own thoughts (on this and other forums). However, I’m not nearly as interested in the “speculation” side of the discussion, in large part because they tend to veer into spoiler territory. I don’t think I’m alone in this, and I think it’s rather unreasonable to expect folks like me to sit out on threads discussing the episode that just aired for a full week because some people can’t be bothered to put spoiler tags around promo material.
If that sounds ridiculous to folks like Dio, I apologize - I really do. But please try to understand that it sounds equally ridiculous to me when you claim that taking a few seconds to type “[ spoiler ]” or to hit “Control-A” to reveal spoiler text is somehow a huge imposition on your time.
Promos are usually exercises in misdirection anyway. I don’t know of any promo ever that actually spoiled something coming next week or next season. Do you?
I’ve even had people request that I spoiler-box my own frigging speculation. It’s not a matter of imposition on time. It’s a matter of arbitrary lines drawn by people who want to restrict other people in order to accomodate themselves.
I used to always watch previews, but that stopped after season 2 of 24. During that season, the previews revealed who one of the traitors/moles was a full four episodes before that scene actually aired. For some reason, the dumbass preview people kept including that scene in the “Next week on 24” commercials even though that episode was two months away. I haven’t watched a 24 preview since that season.
I do watch previews of most other shows because they don’t give away any important details, but I know all too well why someone would want it spoiler-boxed.
OK, so let me summarize where I think we are:
(a) - We want to be courteous to each other, and that means we should NOT be giving away significant plot elements for folks who don’t want to hear about them in advance.
(b) - People who want to avoid spoilers about X should take some responsibility upon themselves not to read threads about X.
© - If a thread has “Open Spoilers” in the title, that really applies to that episode only. This has always been the rule – if the thread is about Episode 17, even if it says “Open Spoilers” in the title, then clearly spoilers about Episode 16 or 18 should be hidden by spoiler tags.[sup]1[/sup] This applies to coming attractions or anything else that would be about a different episode.
(d) - Certainly it would be acceptable to have a thread title say, “Episode 17, but Includes Open Spoilers about other episodes” – or to specify that very clearly in the first sentence of the post, perhaps with capitals or bold font, set aside, etc. so that people see it (not having it hidden in a long OP) Or, just start a different thread about Episode 18.
If we’re pretty much agreed that these are the rules, then I’ll look over the Cafe Society Rules thread next week and amend as needed. I’m not actually sure amendment is required, but I’ll take a look.
PLEASE NOTE: we’re only talking about significant spoilers. We’re not trying to define what that means, but something that happens in the first five minutes of a show probably isn’t really a “spoiler.” Neither is something that one knows will happen: “Ugly Betty has a problem with self-image in next week’s episode” nor “Perry Mason’s client is innocent.” This whole thing is a matter of courtesy to others and requires that we stop and think before posting (not a bad idea, seems to me.)
Also PLEASE NOTE that violation isn’t a bannable offense, nor even a warnable offense, if it’s an accidental goof. We all make dumb mistakes from time to time[sup]2[/sup] Obviously, if we have a pattern of deliberate, repeated offenses, that’s a different story: that’s a violation of our basic rule of “Don’t be a jerk.” The occasional slip is nothing to worry about.
And, please, if you see something that you think should be spoiler-boxed, report it to the moderators.
Footnotes:
[sup]1[/sup] This causes some problem with threads such as, “Which movies had surprise endings that really surprised you?” or similar listings of various movies/TV shows/whatever, since a reader doesn’t know in advance which movie endings might be spoiled. We have to live with that. See (b) above. People who don’t want any surprise endings spoiled shouldn’t read the thread.
[sup]2[/sup]Except Cecil, of course.
This reads like all talk of any previous episodes of a show have to be spoiler-boxed? Is that really what it says or am I misreading?
This all looked good except for (c). Why couldn’t we talk openly about Episode 16 in an open spoiler thread for 17 or later? I know in the “Sopranos” threads there was constant references back to earlier episodes and if someone has not watched episode 16 they should have no expectations of reading a thread on episode 17 and avoiding spoilers for earlier episodes. I know it happens but that rare member should be avoiding open spoiler threads of episodes later than they watched or accept that the episode they missed might be spoiled.
The discussion is winding down, but I want to specifically call out this point (not the poster(s), just the point) for elaboration. One solid argument in favor of considering the preview separate, and not part of the show, is that the show’s producers don’t make it. The network’s marketing department is almost always responsible for assembling the promotional preview. There are exceptions, but for the most part, what you see in the “coming next week” clip was not chosen or edited by the show’s actual producers, but by the network. (For an extreme example, check this out. No spoilers.) For that reason, you can’t really argue that the material in the preview was “aired by the show,” because it’s impossible to know whether or not the showrunners are okay with you seeing those clips. It’s the producers’ job to make the best possible episode; it’s the network’s responsibility to sell it to the audience.
And do not quote it in the thread!
Wow. Has there ever been more ado over less?
What ado? The people that post preview spoilers said they did it more or less because there wasn’t a rule against it. I wanted to know exactly what the rule is.
Yes.
You want a list?
Billy Elliot. One of my favorites. 
OK, fair enough that spoiler tags for PRIOR episodes are probably not needed, at least not in a TV series with an over-arching plot, like BATTLESTAR GALLACTICA, say. Although I expressed it in terms of Episode 16 and Episode 17, I was thinking in general: if there’s a discussion about this show, then spoiler information about that show should be boxed. Example: in a discussion about the IRON MAN movie, if a poster wants to compare to DARK KNIGHT and is giving away major plot elements, then spoiler tags would be preferred.
Again, most of this can’t be defined rigorously. Nor even semi-rigorously. We’re just trying to say: please be mindful about revealing spoilers.
And, Cervaise, thanks for the comments. I think I knew that, but I’d forgot, and it does explain why sometimes the coming attractions really do give away major plot elements.
I’m not trying to change anyone’s mind especially since it seems a ruling has been made, but there are reasons other than stubbornness and laziness to object to superfluous spoiler boxes. I often read threads on my iPhone, and as far as I know, there is no way to reveal the spoiler boxes. On the other hand, if anyone knows a way to do this, please let me know.
Is there an equivilent to a Select All on the iPhone? That is Control A in Internet Explorer or off the edit menu.
Test Try it on this spoiler Control A reveals many secrets.
Shouldn’t this whole thread be spoilered? People are giving away information before the show is even over.
Why would discussion of an episode in the thread for discussing said episode have to be spoilered?