Folks, spoiler boxes are annoying (to me, and probably many others). They’re consistently overused on this board, and are a constant source of confusion and contention. And now my “spoiler rage” has reached a level need seen before. You see, I now do the majority of my Dope reading on my iPhone. And guess what?
You can’t read spoilerboxes on an iPhone.
Fellow Dopers, I implore you. I want to cherish every word you offer like 8 year old Munch cherished his stuffed dog Max. Please stop using spoiler boxes when it isn’t necessary. And for referrence, here’s a handy list of appropriate times to do so:
You have advance knowledge or information that you are divulging about a book/movie/TV show.
That’s it. If the tv show has been aired, then people who don’t want to be spoiled need to stay the fuck out of that episode’s thread. If they haven’t finished the book, then try need to do the same. If they’re half-way through and have a question, then they needto start a new thread and request no spoilers beyond where they’ve read. It’s really quite simple.
Thank you for your time. Proceed to bring up the one exception out of a thousand examples that you think somehow exempt you from filling up threads with unreadable eyesores that insert confusion and panic into an otherwise pleasant conversation.
Munch, dear, I do appreciate your iPhone problem, but I like to read threads about movies I haven’t seen yet, to determine if I think I’d like them, based on Doper comments. But, I do NOT want the movie spoiled.
You almost had it. Just omit the word “BOX” from your tags and you have it exactly. It’s just the word spoiler in the front tag and /spoiler in the second tag. Oh, and make sure you use the square brackets.
Really? Because I make this plea on a near-annual basis (or at least did when I was able to post), and I’ve only recently gotten a iPhone. Is there a reason why you think it aids conversations when you add confusion into the mix? Because nothing oils the process of discourse as the following:
Poster A: “I’m not sure if I should use a spoiler box to recap what everyone is currently talking about. I guess I will anyway.”. : posts a bunch of already-discussed information in a spoiler :
Poster B: “Um, I don’t want to be spoiled by what A said, but I think it might not have been a spoiler, could someone check?”
Poster C: “Nope, it wasn’t. Feel free to read it.”
Poster A: “Oh. Sorry.”
Poster D: : posts a genuine spoiler :
Poster B: “dammit!! I just accidentally read D’s spoiler, because there was so much confusion! I wish there was a simple one-rule way for people to remeber when to post spoilers or not…”
See? If it wasn’t for the stupidity of Poster A, then Poster B wouldn’t have gone on a murderous rampage, forcing his children into a cannibalistic society in the hills of Appalachia. Don’t be Poster A.
Ellen I understand your desire. But do you really think the solution to that is to have everyone post everything in boxes? Why not start a thread asking for non-spoily reviews of recent releases? That would be a) an interesting thread that I’d be happy to both tea and contribute to b) provide an excellent resource for others in your situation c) allow me and others to actually read the spoily thread in question and d) protect you from unboxed spoilers (which are bound to exist, given the current inability for this community to agree on the times when a spoiler box is useful).
Bitch bitch bitch. I have as big a problem as anyone on this board with spoilers (I hate them with a fiery passion), but very few threads happen like this.
Yes, you’ll get the occasional idiot who will spoil something that 10 people have already talked about openly, but that’s rare. For the most part, we already post threads exactly like you’ve requested in your plea.
Personally, I think that the use of “SPOILERS” in the title of the thread should be sufficient. If a show thread starts before the show, with speculative discussion, the solution for someone who won’t see the show until after almost everyone else does is to read the thread until the show starts in the Eastern time zone, then not read it again until after the show is over in the Pacific (or Alaskan or Hawaii time zones, depending on your location).
As for spoiler-free review threads, there are two solutions: begin one of those long open-ended threads calling for spoiler-free movie and tv series reviews or start a thread asking for spoiler-free reviews of the particular show or movie you want to know about. I would guess that 99% of the board’s denizens would honor the no spoilers request. The other 1% would be assholes who deliberately spoil things or good-intentioned but poor-attentioned people who didn’t read the whole OP before posting.
What happens when it’s a thread with a more general topic, like the recent one on great villainous monologues? A thread like that will cover a number of different works and might contain “spoiling” information about any of them.
I almost never use them, one of the first things you stated was
…sans any reference to how long you’ve been using it.
The rest of it is a bunch of dog-wagging; don’t like them, don’t open the thread; can’t read them on your iPhone? Tough titties; that’ll teach you to line Steve Jobs’ wallet for something that can’t do what a nerdy old PC can.
I appreciate spoiler boxes, so I would like to see them continue to be used. I don’t see why your dislike of them should trump other peoples’ like for them.
Think on this: if you make this plea every year, and yet people don’t follow your rules, maybe your rules are generally disliked and you’re just going to have to suck it up.
Then I’m shit out I luck. That’s a perfectly good reason to use boxes.
Risha: sorry, that doesn’t work. Every time I make this plea, a little bit of ignorance is fought, and there is always a good discussion that takes place. There are, in fact, guidelines laid out for spoiler use, which this helps to reinforce.
Troubleagain: I’m not calling for their abolishment. I’m just asking that before you use them, you ask yourself if they are necessary in that situation.
An Arky: Sorry, I don’t know what to tell you. I couldn’t really care less if I skip over a spoiler box. I don’t like being spoiled so I don’t read them. And if you’re too dense to understand when to use them and post just a regular comment in one, odds are you’re not capable of offering any real insight or perspective to the conversation. Ultimately, my message is “if you want to increase the odds of your message contributing to this board, then a spoiler box may not be the best medium.”
Troubleagain: I’m not calling for their abolishment. I’m just asking that before you use them, you ask yourself if they are necessary in that situation.
An Arky: Sorry, I don’t know what to tell you. I couldn’t really care less if I skip over a spoiler box. I don’t like being spoiled so I don’t read them. And if you’re too dense to understand when to use them and post just a regular comment in one, odds are you’re not capable of offering any real insight or perspective to the conversation. Ultimately, my message is “if you want to increase the odds of your message contributing to this board, then a spoiler box may not be the best medium.”
Edit: heh. “this forum requires you to wait 60 seconds between posts. Please wait 46 seconds before posting.” if I could type that in 14 seconds on this thing, I need to enter some kind of contest.