“Thanks for spoiling that for me, douche canoe,” is a regular phrase on social media after any popular TV show ends and someone posts ANYTHING about it. Anymore, posting anything about anything is considered a spoiler. Who is to blame in the case of spoilers? Is it the fault of the person who got spoiled or the person who posted the “spoiler?” Personally, I think it’s the person who got spoiled.

The big spoiler this television season has been about (GIANT SPOILER WARNING ABOUT THE WALKING DEAD IF YOU KEEP READING IT IS YOUR OWN FAULT!) Glenn’s death/not death on The Walking Dead. Immediately after it happened, people ran to Facebook and Twitter and posted typical outrage, horror, shock, and pics of Glenn that said “RIP.” I get how frustrating that must be for people who didn’t get to watch yet. I’ve been a victim of unmarked spoilers on social media. I had Lori’s death spoiled on The Walking Dead a few years ago. And that was the last time I was spoiled for a TV show.

After that happened, I stopped going on social media during or immediately after a show I enjoyed was on. I don’t want to be spoiled accidentally. Is it inconvenient to avoid social media just because I don’t want to see somebody post something? Sure, but it’s not the end of the world. I value being entertained and unspoiled about TV shows I like; if that means not being on Facebook for an hour or two, that’s a small price to pay.

There’s a mindset about unmarked spoilers on social media that people seem that they shouldn’t be the victim of such a thing. That’s pretty selfish. You can’t expect everyone to stop talking about a popular show just because little ol’ you hasn’t seen it yet. There is also the argument that “Well, I’m not able to see it because I don’t have cable/Netflix/a working television.” That’s not my fault. If you want to see something bad enough, there are several ways to do so (some of them not so scrupulous). But yeah, if you want to see The Walking Dead, just wait an hour until it’s aired on cable and then just Google it. You’d be surprised how magical Google is.

There is also a weird position on the statute of limitations on spoilers. If something happens in season 1 of a show but it’s currently in season 6, is it still a spoiler? We can’t talk about Glenn’s death/not death, but should I have spoiler tagged Lori’s? What about the Red Wedding during Game of Thrones? Surely if someone wanted to watch the older seasons, they’d done so by now, right? But what if they haven’t? Should I spoiler tag everything I say in real life because

might not have seen it! As you can see, it becomes a slippery slope that ends with no one ever getting to talk about their favorite shows.

Here is my position: I will never purposely spoil something for somebody on social media. However, I don’t expect everyone to do the same. That’s because they aren’t me. If you are on Facebook at 9:02pm during Walking Dead season and get spoiled, that’s on you. Unfollow the guilty party and move on. Don’t write a long diatribe about how you got spoiled and everyone is terrible. That’s dumb. Just get off Facebook and watch your show. And don’t spoil it for anyone else!

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