It’s Sunday, which means the new episode of Game of Thrones is about to be pirated watched legitimately by all of Australia, and millions of people will go into “anti-spoiler” mode. What does that mode entail for you?
Obviously this applies to a lot more than Game of Thrones, but as we all get more used to binge watching shows on Netflix and the like, Game of Thrones remains one of the few water cooler shows that people are forced to watch weekly, so it’s probably the most relevant show to bring up. Big things happen quite often in the show, which can make that water cooler a very dangerous place. It’s also now a really interesting situation in which the show is portraying events before the books.
Just when you think we’ve all reached that point of mutual spoiler respect, up pops the one or two friends in your news feed that either just don’t care or had a momentary lapse in their mental filter.
This happened to me recently when a certain meme was doing the rounds online. I’d make a vague reference to it, but that’d be a bit hypocritical. It was a heavy work week and I just hadn’t had time to watch the episode until a couple days after it aired. The clincher was the text above the image my friend had shared: “Too soon?”
Ugh.
Of *course* my mind is going to figure out who died in that episode. Damn.
I had done very well up until that point to avoid everything on social media. I basically go into a lockdown mode and avoid everything, including earphones and loud music on the bus if need be. Trouble is, sometimes social media can be very convenient, and in my case, it can mean freelance work coming through. That means I have to actually move things around in my life to make sure I watch it before it’s spoiled.
What’s your strategy? Do you use word filters? Do you let friends & family know ahead of time? Do you just not care because the books are more important to you?
Help your fellow Lifehackers out in the comments!
Comments
8 responses to “How Do You Avoid Spoilers Online?”
just stop caring
the best way to avoid spoilers is to shift your perspective. shows you enjoy aren’t just a series of events in a vacuum, the things you enjoy about the show are the world-building or the characterisation or the visuals or the writing. basically that quote about how the journey is more important than the destination or whatever. any form of spoiler-blocking you use can be foiled, but it’s not a big deal. Who cares if you know that Jon Snow and Daenerys ran away to join the circus together, I wanna know how they got there from where they currently are.
Dammit man, I haven’t watched it yet!
Don’t like whats popular, i don’t like GoT and therefor i don’t have to hide beause it’s being talked about 24/7.
I don’t check facebook after about 1pm on monday and ‘acquire’ the latest episode as soon as I get home from work. To be honest it’s getting better, especially with GoT, I feel that since everything is new to everyone people are a bit more careful. That being said I unfriended one for revealing an episode where a certain curly haired individual featured. They were vague in their spoiler but not enough.
So here are a few unique strategies:
1) Watch it when it’s released. Stop expecting everybody else to make way for your tardy behaviour.
2) Get off the Internet. It’s not like people are calling you and saying “Frank killed Zoe Barns”. If you do insist on taking your sweet-arse time to watch your favorite show, keep off Reddit and Facebook in the meantime.
3) Enjoy the story. (ie. Get over it) Am I the only one who’s enjoyed every single Bond film knowing full well from the beginning that in the end James Bond lives and foils the plot of the evil genius? Good drama is about the story, not about the outcome.
Just watch the show when it comes out, or within a few days.
If you choose not to, don’t get angry someone on the internet spoiled it for you. Your choice, your consequence.
I suppose it is different if you’ve worded up your family and friends and they spoil it for you anyway. Probably a legitimate reason to disown them.
I kinda do that I don’t watch when they first come out. Usually no time. I’ll wait a year or two then binge watch. By then I have forgotten most of what I never really paid any attention to.