# Poll: Link to a movie/tv show -IMDB or Wikipedia **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** tv-shows-scripted, movies\ **Created:** [July 22, 2021, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-link-to-a-movie-tv-show-imdb-or-wikipedia/947082 "2021-07-22T21:13:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![mordecaiB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mordecaib/32/7725_2.png) [@mordecaiB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mordecaiB)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2021, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-link-to-a-movie-tv-show-imdb-or-wikipedia/947082/1 "2021-07-22T21:13:58Z")
If someone links to a movie/tv show that you are planning to see, where do you prefer them to link to? _Poll ([view on site](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-link-to-a-movie-tv-show-imdb-or-wikipedia/947082/1))_ For me, it’s IMDB, even with their new look, which I don’t like. Linking to a Wiki article has the whole plot you have to skip over to see the cast, which risks spoilers. Also, since I know the names of very few actors, I prefer the photos alongside the names so I know who is who. Twenty years here and this is my first poll because I was waiting for a very important question that begged to be answered by a poll. Edit: damn, I didn’t know about the alphabetizing, it looked better my way. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2021, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-link-to-a-movie-tv-show-imdb-or-wikipedia/947082/2 "2021-07-22T21:42:01Z")
If I’m looking up a movie or TV show, I generally want to see plot, performers and production information. Wikipedia has those all on one page and in IMDb I have to click back and forth. I almost never care about spoilers and on the rare occasion that I did want to avoid them, I’d probably avoid looking up movie information altogether. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2021, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-link-to-a-movie-tv-show-imdb-or-wikipedia/947082/3 "2021-07-22T21:44:40Z")
I do both now, but Wikipedia has gradually become my first place to go. Still visit the IMDB almost every day, though. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2021, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-link-to-a-movie-tv-show-imdb-or-wikipedia/947082/4 "2021-07-22T21:49:43Z")
Strong preference for Wikipedia. Putting aside the amount of info on either, the IMDB has an agressively user-unfriendly layout. ---
**Author:** ![mordecaiB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mordecaib/32/7725_2.png) [@mordecaiB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mordecaiB)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2021, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-link-to-a-movie-tv-show-imdb-or-wikipedia/947082/5 "2021-07-22T22:23:20Z")
> [@hogarth](#): > > I almost never care about spoilers I don’t want spoilers at all, so the short description on IMDB is the perfect amount of info for me. > [@Mahaloth](#): > > I do both now, but Wikipedia has gradually become my first place to go. From the Movies You’ve Seen Recently thread, I notice you watch a lot of movies compared to me. Do you generally read the entire Wiki page before watching a movie? > [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > IMDB has an agressively user-unfriendly layout. Yes, the last “improvement” really irks me. Call me lazy as I know it only takes one click to get to the place I want to be, but it’s still irritating. I don’t like reading sites that have a black background. I should google and find out if I can change it back to a white background. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2021, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-link-to-a-movie-tv-show-imdb-or-wikipedia/947082/6 "2021-07-22T22:26:39Z")
I prefer Wikipedia because they don’t object to people deep linking (not that I’ve heard IMDB objects but some sites did in the past). Although I agree that the plot description can spoil things for the reader. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2021, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-link-to-a-movie-tv-show-imdb-or-wikipedia/947082/7 "2021-07-24T01:14:18Z")
Wiki. It’s just a better layout. It generally doesn’t have spoilers in the first paragraph so that’s not a problem. It also has links to the imdb in it, whereas IMDB doesn’t do it the other way round. IMDB still has info that Wiki doesn’t have, stuff like the soundtrack, and I trust it more for the spelling of character names. It’s a shame that, in their understandable efforts to monetise the site, they’ve made it less readable for casual users. ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2021, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-link-to-a-movie-tv-show-imdb-or-wikipedia/947082/8 "2021-07-24T01:17:05Z")
> [@mordecaiB](#): > > If someone links to a movie/tv show that you are planning to see, where do you prefer them to link to? For a show I’m _planning_ on seeing? Doesn’t matter, cause I’m not looking that up online. For information about something I’ve watched? IMBD always. ---
**Author:** ![mordecaiB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mordecaib/32/7725_2.png) [@mordecaiB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mordecaiB)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2021, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-link-to-a-movie-tv-show-imdb-or-wikipedia/947082/9 "2021-07-24T06:07:53Z")
> [@SciFiSam](#): > > It also has links to the imdb in it, whereas IMDB doesn’t do it the other way round. That’s usually what I do when someone posts a Wiki link - go to the IMDB link to look at that. > [@SciFiSam](#): > > It’s a shame that, in their understandable efforts to monetise the site, they’ve made it less readable for casual users. As I said above, I don’t know many actors by name so I liked that IMDB had pictures of the actors alongside the names. That used to be front and center when you looked up a movie. I can still get to the page I want that lists the entire cast but I have to click thru to get to it. The new design is totally off-putting to me. Black background is never good for a site that you need to read. I don’t care what color of font you use, I find it hard to read on a black background. I understand Wiki’s photo policy, it’s just that, for me photos for actors are a big plus. If I wanted to check a plot point for a movie I already watched, it’s Wiki all the way. They just have more in depth info. > [@naita](#): > > For a show I’m _planning_ on seeing? Doesn’t matter, cause I’m not looking that up online. Since many movies are brought to my attention by things like reading about them on this board, I find the short synopsis IMDB uses to be helpful. I don’t think I have seen an ad or a trailer for a movie in 30+ years. > [@naita](#): > > For information about something I’ve watched? IMBD always. If I’m looking up cast, IMDB. If I need something about the plot, Wiki. ---
**Author:** ![mordecaiB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mordecaib/32/7725_2.png) [@mordecaiB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mordecaiB)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2021, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-link-to-a-movie-tv-show-imdb-or-wikipedia/947082/10 "2021-07-24T06:09:51Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > I prefer Wikipedia because they don’t object to people deep linking (not that I’ve heard IMDB objects but some sites did in the past) I didn’t even know that was a thing anymore. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen hot linking mentioned. ---
**Author:** ![Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heffalump_and_roo/32/7691_2.png) [@Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heffalump_and_Roo)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2021, 6:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-link-to-a-movie-tv-show-imdb-or-wikipedia/947082/11 "2021-07-24T06:32:39Z")
I like [justwatch.com](https://www.justwatch.com/us) They don’t give away the plot and they tell you where it’s streaming. IMDb doesn’t usually give the whole list of streaming places. > [@mordecaiB](#): > > Twenty years here and this is my first poll Congrats! Many more polls to come. Or something.