Do you find “Spoiler” or “TMI” flags a welcome warning, or an irresistable tease?
If a thread has a spoiler or TMI warning, I must read it. It’s like the cable TV warnings of “nudity and adult situations.” It’s practically a requirement that I watch it, if not record it.
I usually click TMI’s if the thread seems interesting, mostly because TMI doesn’t bother me. I mean, I work with stool samples, okay? But I don’t feel pulled to each and every TMI thread just because of those three letters, no.
Spoilers, though, are hard not to click. That black mystery box floating in the middle of the post is so tempting, and my mouse is attracted to it like cheese. But when I really don’t want to know, like if it’s about a movie I know I want to see, or a puzzle solution, I manage not to look.
Until someone responds to the spoiler box with a “No!! Really?? I can’t believe it!!” That pushes me right over the edge and I am compelled to scroll up and do a little clicking-and-dragging to see what the heck all the excitement is about.
All the TMI threads I’ve read have never really grossed me out. Should one ever really start to gross me out, I’ll simply stop reading the thread. However, this has never even come close to happening so far. Also just because a thread is labeled TMI, doesn’t always mean I’ll read it.
As for spoilers in threads, I will ONLY read the thread, if I have seen the event being talked about or if I plan to NOT watch it. So if it’s a good movie I want to see or an episode of Survivor that has aired, but I’ve taped and not watched yet, I’ll simply NOT go into the thread whether the spoilers are boxed or not.
I find it silly that people get upset about spoilers, boxed or not. If you want to see the event yourself and have not done so yet, it’s simple, just do not go into the thread.
The only time I’d get upset about spoilers would be if they were contained in the title of the thread.
For me, it’s all about self-control when it comes to threads with TMI and spoilers.
Yes.
For me, it depends what it is. There’s some shows (Lost) I don’t wanna know a durn thing! I won’t even watch the “Next Time On”, although those people don’t spoil and it doesn’t bother me much - the teasers are so misleading anyway that speculation based on them is really worthless. For these shows/movies, it can be agonizing to not highlight that black box, teasing me with the answers to all my questions! But, 99% of the time, I manage to NOT read it.
Other shows (*Buffy *when it was fresh) I’d go poking around the internet for spoilers. Read every article, every speculation, every WAG that was out there. Woulda stalked Marty Noxon if I lived in LA. It didn’t spoil it for me if I knew what was going to happen it was HOW it was going to happen that fascinated me. (“Buffy and Spike are gonna get together? How the hell are they going to…er. Wow!”)
So I like Spoiler tags because they let me decide whether or not I want to read it. I like a bit of a label unspoilered, so I know what the spoiler’s referencing though. Like “Spoiler re: guest star!” before the spoiler box itself.
TMI? Heh. I’ve never felt a single TMI thread has been TMI. (A few out of thread posts have been TMI, our friend Roland’s being the most obvious. Those are nice to have warning of, and I spoiler those myself, as well as clearly labeling them TMI. Except for that roach thing. Sorry Annnamika!) I don’t really pay much attention to the TMI either way. If the topic looks interesting, I’ll open it. But I neither open nor avoid because of the TMI label.
They don’t hold any special appeal for me. It’ll make me notice the thread and I’ll hover over the title to read the first sentence or two but I do that for any thread that looks the least bit interesting anyway.
Threads that are posted just to be TMI, I avoid though.
Ditto here. In fact, I like to read TMI threads during lunch. 
And I always read TMI threads. Every one. Perhaps there is something wrong with me.
…Nah.