Spoiler Alert!: A Guide To Proper Spoiler Etiquette

In the days before Internet, Social Media, and worldwide simultaneous episode drops on streaming services, having a film or TV series spoiled before you had seen it was a much less prevalent issue than it is today. Even though many U.S based TV shows aired weeks or months ahead of what was being seen in Australia, for example, the lack of immediate online discussion meant episodes remained unspoiled. The same was true for new release films. Unless you had encountered someone who had seen a film before you, and that person accidentally revealed plot details, you usually had more time to see a film before you needed to fear having it spoiled.

Now, however, with social media as a major presence, and streaming services providing access to a new episode to everyone at once, if you can't watch a new piece of content as soon as it is released, you must enter spoiler avoidance mode almost immediately until you see it. To help out, here's a quick reminder of proper spoiler etiquette.

Spoiler Etiquette For TV Shows

The rules for sharing Television spoilers vary depending on the release format, and the social media platform on which the spoiler is being shared.

For single-episode drops on streaming services or TV networks, most Facebook groups will ask that fans confine spoilers to a dedicated spoiler discussion thread for anywhere from 24 hours to a week. Some will keep a spoiler ban in place until the full season has aired, but this has become less common. However, many will still request a warning on posts with spoilers for at least the duration of the season.

When a full season drops at once, major spoiler bans will remain in place for at least a month, sometimes longer.

Spoilers are harder to avoid on sites like X/Twitter, Threads, and Tumblr, but there is still a proper etiquette to follow when posting them. When posting spoilers on any of those sites, be sure to add the proper # Hashtag, as fans will then have the option to block that hashtag and avoid the worst of the spoilers until they see the show.

In the event of a leaked episode..

Occasionally, an episode, or even multiple episodes, will leak ahead of time. HBO, unfortunately, seems especially prone to this problem, with multiple major Game of Thrones episodes leaking, and it's prequel series, House of the Dragon, suffering a leak earlier this year. However, HBO are not the only victims, with almost the entire second season of AMC's The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon spin-off appearing early on pirate sites.

We should tell you not to watch leaked content, but that is not realistic. Some will be unable to resist the temptation. Watching a leaked episode is your choice, just know that the consequence of that choice is now waiting longer for more new content, and more importantly for the purposes of this article, waiting longer to discuss what you've seen with others. Watch a leak if you like, but if you do, the correct thing to do would be to wait out the usual spoiler ban period. Not from when it leaked, but from the time the episode was supposed to air.

Film Spoiler Etiquette

Film Spoilers are a different ballgame, mostly because we are dealing with a much less level playing field. While TV shows, for the most part, are released at more or less the same time worldwide (give or take a few weeks for Network Television), there can be variations in movie release dates. Some countries will get the film earlier or later than others, and some theatres will run early screenings. On top of this, some fans do not have the time or money to rush to the theatre as soon as a film is released. Some even prefer to wait until the film arrives on a streaming service so they can watch it at home.

For X/Twitter, the Spoiler rules stay more or less the same: Tag, tag, tag, so people have the option to temporarily block and avoid spoilers should they wish. However, the difference in release dates means Facebook Groups will usually have a longer spoiler ban in place for new release films. These bans can last anywhere from a month, to when the film arrives to digitally by or rent, or some even wait until the film drops on a streaming service.

If the film is a streaming service exclusive to begin with, the rules for a full-season TV drop usually apply, so bans stay in place for about a month.

What about older content?

The rise of streaming means many older films and TV series have become more easily accessible, leading to new fans discovering them. Buffy The Vampire Slayer, now over 20 years old, is a prime example of this trend, with new reaction videos for the series regularly popping up online.

So, what is the Spoiler etiquette for older content? Well, obviously it would be bad form to intentionally go out of your way to spoil a series if you know someone is watching it. That being said, when content has been around for a year or more, the onus on avoiding spoilers shifts to the viewer. Don't join Facebook groups for a show you have not finished watching, avoid tagged posts and fan-edits ahead of where you have seen, and if something is accidentally spoiled, well.. it happens, and it's really nobody's fault.

There is, however, one caveat. The Spoiler alert rules reset to baseline in the event of..

A New Adaptation of Older Content

Remakes of older films, reboots of old shows, and new film adaptations of shows, stageplays, and books are now commonplace. These new releases will of course lead to new fans discovering the stories, and while older fans should welcome and respect the new fans by not spoiling things ahead of time.

Unfortunately, this is not always the case, the newly released film adaptation of the popular Broadway musical Wicked being a prime example. The film only covers Act I of the play, with a sequel covering Act II due to release this time next year. People coming to the story through the film are asking questions and forming theories about what is to come in part 2, only to have fans of the play dismiss them, sometimes by outright spoiling events in Act II.

They justify the decision by claiming that spoilers are fair game since the play is twenty years old, and new fans have had plenty of time to see it or read the book before seeing the movie. This excuse does not hold water, and not just because the book is different enough from the play or movie to be irrelevant to the conversation. The early Game of Thrones novels were over a decade old by the time the TV series began, yet many of that series biggest surprises remained intact for the screen, because for the most part, book readers were respectful enough not to spoil things for those experiencing the show for the first time.

Old Wicked fans owe new Wicked fans that same courtesy. Not everyone can justify the cost of live theatre tickets, so for those fans, the new film and its sequel will be their first chance to experience the story of Wicked. Those fans deserve to experience it unspoiled, as earlier fans did seeig the play the first time.

It might be frustrating to see newbies coming up with hot takes or fan theories you know are wrong, but the moral thing to do is grit your teeth, keep your mouth shut, and don't spoil. Those new fans will eventually thank you for it.