When Is It A Spoiler And When Should You Have Seen It Already?

I hate spoilers I really do. I find it to be one of the most obnoxious things anyway can do is to ruin a new movie I’ve been waiting months to see or a newly aired TV show that’s still on my PVR and I’ve been waiting all week to see.

In today’s high tech, fast paced world there are certain places that spoilers are expected but there are still others where they aren’t. On Twitter, for example, people always discuss events as they happen be they TV shows, awards ceremonies, or real historical events (like when President Obama announced that they’d killed Osama). That is totally and completely expected by anyone who uses Twitter and I am not at all referencing that. A lot of Twitter clients these days even include the option to mute tweets that have certain words/hashtags in them so you can be spared seeing them discussed – I wouldn’t be surprised if it was added with this as one of the main reasons.

One thing I noticed when I started using the entertainment social network GetGlue was if I went to check-in to a show on the GetGlue website some inconsiderate people would sometimes be discussing the show or giving away plot points within their check-in which shows up on the homepage for the show. This is one thing, in my mind, if the show/episode aired a while ago but while the show is still airing that is ridiculously annoying. It ruined the surprise death of a show’s character in the episode I was just about to watch.

The fact that people discuss shows online as they happen is why I think it is OK to do while the show is happening (on Twitter) but after the show airs it is open for debate in my mind. What is the appropriate time to wait after the show airs or after a movie is released before you can discuss it openly? In my mind, I would say at least a 24 hour waiting period for TV shows and for movies I would put it at a month…although maybe the best way to go for movies is while it is still on the highest grossing movies in theaters list. I don’t know which is why I am putting it to all y’all. What say you? Let me know in the comments below.