To think you cannot moan about spoilers after the programme has aired?!

[HeIsNotTheSun]

People on Twitter moaning about the official GBBO account tweeting about who went out this week. “Haven’t had a chance to watch it yet!” “It hasn’t aired in the US yet!” Being the two main complaints.

You see it on here too sometimes. People moaning about programmes being spoiled because they haven’t had a chance to watch it yet.

I think they should dry up, in all honesty. Totally fair where the programme hasn’t aired in the UK yet and other UK users spoil it. But ffs, just don’t follow the GBBO account if you don’t want it spoiled??

I think in on most social media, you take your risks. People can moan about it, but it's well known things are talked about there in real time. It's a bit foolish to go on Twitter if you care about that, much as it's silly to complain about spoilers for historical events in historical fiction (which I have seen).

I agree with pp that on forums, it's better etiquette to have a general title so people can choose same as I think when in conversation with others, it's polite to ask if they've seen something or cares about spoilers (or a programme at all...) before infodumping on them. I can understand when someone who has been trying to avoid things gets annoyed at being 'spoiled' that way. While it rarely matters to me, I know it takes the fun out of things for others.

I know people who've been spoiler dodging so they can watch the whole Rebuild of Evangelion tetrology once it's all released (so literally spoiler dodging for over a decade), the COVID related delays for the final one have been difficult. It doesn't matter to me, but I kinda admire the dedication. They're certainly not on forums or parts of social media where things related to that are discussed. I would be pissed for them if someone trolled an unrelated space to spoil those things, which I've also seen in relation to other media.

Game Of Thrones was a bit of a special case because it was first broadcast at 6am in the UK so only a very few people would have watched it live. The MN threads were specially designed to take account of that - I think there was a separate thread for each episode, titled only with the name of the episode, so if you didn’t go onto that thread you’d be safe from spoilers.

But in general, it is not unreasonable for the GBBO twitter feed to congratulate/commiserate at the conclusion of each episode.

I completely agree OP. I got into an argument once with this woman on the GBBO Facebook page who was apoplectic they’d actually featured the result on final night - you know, the night of the year they get the most traffic. The main aim of social media.

I suggested she perhaps should have stayed off social media until she got back from work. She relied with ‘I am a NURSE! I am saving people’s LIVES! I think I am entitled to have one little break to look at my phone!!!’ Entitled was definitely the word. She was practically apoplectic when I suggested she could have spent her one little break doing something else. Seriously, does she think the BBC (as it was then) grinds to a halt just in case Nurse Beryl Spiggit is on duty at St. Chutney’s and will have to tape the cake show?

There were indeed complaints to the Radio Times when they put a picture of Darcy and Elizabeth’s wedding on their front cover before the final episode of P&P had aired. Now clearly some people hadn’t got around to reading the book itself during the intervening two centuries, what with not being alive for most of it, but surely if you’d ever consumed any romantic fiction ever you would know that they were going to get married. It’s like saying that James Bond defeats the bad guy in Die Another Day. Not a spoiler.

I think it's unfair to post big plot things in a thread title on MN as it's impossible to avoid but things like an official Twitter account are hardly going to keep quiet are they? To be annoyed at that is nuts.

I look away when scrolling past TV threads I'm on if I've not seen the programme yet. With things like the Sewing Bee I was always vague in the thread until the next day as several posters were a short time behind - it was just courtesy though as it was a small group.

I am the same @Tlollj - I always read the plot on Wikipedia first 🤷🏼‍♀️

I do find it strange. Avoid social media if you don't want to know.

Spoiler etiquette means that I, as a normal person and viewer, will be cautious when speaking to people in real life about a TV episode or book, normally checking if they have seen the latest episode, got to the end of the book etc. If posting online, I'll make sure that no spoilers are in my title but that discussion will include the latest broadcast episode so people are warned and can stay away. Official social media accounts for a programme are different though. They exist to get fan reaction and interaction so will post as things happen. For me, this means staying away from social media if I know that an episode of my favourite programme has been broadcast but I haven't been able to watch yet.

It's quite amusing that for once this is a situation where the UK broadcast is spoiling US viewers. It's mostly the other way round with so much TV being American-made and shown in the US first. Maybe they aren't as used to social media dodging as we are?

@Tlollj

I like knowing what’s going to happen before I watch things. I know I’m in the minority but I just like to know. 🤷‍♀️

I do too. Sometimes if i'm choosing a box set I like to know what's going to happen so I can decide if it's going to be worth it. I do it with books too, once i've got the plot and characters straight I read the ending never spoils my enjoyment of the book or the series. Weird but happy.

YANBU.

However, years ago I used to watch the Eastenders omnibus on a Sunday. This was before real social media and a friend phoned me the day before and said, 'oh did you see who shot Phil?' I said, 'no, not yet...' and before I could finish the sentence she blurted out 'it was Lisa!' I was soooo pissed off! 😆

There have been loads on here over the years, especially talent shows etc where somebody doesn't watch it and then screams and cries (shakes with trauma and is LIVID in typical MN fashion) because the whole world is supposed to wait until she gets round to it.
Beggars belief really. OPs have been made to feel really bad for talking about Strictly AFTER ITS FINISHED and then the threads fill up with "what if the person who didn't watch it on the night was a paramedic saving your husband's life huh huh?" And all that ridiculous whataboutery.

Game Of Thrones was a bit of a special case because it was first broadcast at 6am in the UK so only a very few people would have watched it live

It was 2.00am and as someone who sleeps badly it was a change having something to watch.

Funnily enough I just went back and reread the thread from the final episode sashh, so I now know you’re right about the last episode at least. I was sure some series broadcast it at 6am though? Or maybe that’s just when I watched it. My point stands though - it was a minefield when it came to spoilers.

YABU. You shouldn't have to avoid reading the news over a breakfast cuppa or jumping on MN for 5 minutes just so something isn't ruined.

It's easy enough to just have a headline "GBBO/GoT/Celebrity Trashshow Update" without giving away extra info.

It's not about people thinking they're the centre of the universe, it's more about acknowledging that having a working pattern or childcare arrangements that allow you to watch something as it goes out live isn't always possible...especially in an age where streaming at your convenience is commonplace.

Frankly why would you want to ruin the little bit of pleasure someone gets from a show/book/movie?

On a book forum I'm a member of, all new books have a spoiler limit of 3 months then no alert is needed. I think 48 hours would be reasonable for TV shows and a couple of weeks for new movies.

YANBU especially when it's on the actual social media page of the programme. Honestly despair of people that get annoyed at that.

Totally agree. It’s on the people who haven’t watched it yet to avoid spoilers, not for the entire world to not talk about something to accommodate them. I’m always courteous in person so I won’t discuss the result with a colleague for E.g. unless I’ve checked that they’ve seen it, but complaining about the official account of a programme posting about the programme is ridiculous. People who don’t want to be spoilered should take responsibility for their own internet use!

It depends I think - fair game for social media spoilers. Not fine for the press and papers to do it as I go on newspaper websites to get the news and get a bit upset when there’s an unavoidable spoiler with no spoiler alert - and often accompanied by a picture depicting the spoiler just for good measure. I think that’s unacceptable as you would basically have to avoid the news until you’ve had a chance to watch the programme if you wanted to avoid spoilers.

Speaking of the red wedding, I never watched Game of Thrones but I have read all of the books. I remember when my flatmates, who were watchers but not readers, happily settled down for ‘The Rains of Castamere’, knowing exactly what they had in store for them. I slunk away and made brownies so they’d have something to console themselves with afterwards 🤣

YANBU
We watched GOT with delay so I just kept away from twitter etc for a day. You can't expect people not to talk about it.

Yanbu, ive only just watched last nights gbbo, I purposely avoided social media till id watched it, just as I would with anything I didn't want spoiled that I couldn't watch as it happened, I certainly wouldn't expect others not to discuss it! Tho i do agree on a forum such as this a title not giving the game away is helpful with something thats only just aired incase the reason you haven't watched it yet is just cos your waiting for your partner to get home from work or something

Some people go really over the top with spoilers tho, I remember years ago i was behind with TWD like 4 months behind, I finally got around to catching up and commented on fb about how I couldn't believe glenn was dead, my sister went mad at me, calling me fucking selfish and all sorts because she hadn't watched it yet, i tried pointing out that the episode had aired months before and i could hardly check with everyone on my friends list to see if they had watched it yet but she didn't care

I think these days loads of people watch shows on catch up but if following the GBBO twitter account then you cannot really complain about spoilers.

I was slightly irritated to be driving the other week, the morning after the show and some radio host blurted out the result with no warning. I think in that case they could have at least said spoiler alert before they spoke.

I'm in a fb group for GBBO and we have agreed to have one convo on the night while watching and no other threads are allowed to mention who went out or whatever.
And yet the other day someone was moaning about spoilers and when it was pointed out that this is how the group operates, especially to avoid giving people spoilers there was a massive flounce.

On books etc - hmmmmm. If someone just starts reading Harry Potter and has just finished book 3 it is a dick move to say "oh it's such a shame when X dies in book 5". Yes, the book has been around for years, but there will always be some people reading it for the first time.

After all, many many people go to see the Mousetrap for the first time and if they haven't actively looked for spoilers there's a good chance it will be a surprise for them. Spoiling people's fun is a dick move generally.

But actual historical fact? meh. Fair game

Totally agree. It’s on the people who haven’t watched it yet to avoid spoilers, not for the entire world to not talk about something to accommodate them.

forgot to mention this. Before the 6th Harry Potter book came out, and i wasn't sure how quickly I'd get it, i avoided media and so on in order to avoid knowing which character would die.

So i restricted my newspaper reading (in advance of publication) to the Financial Times. And the absolute fuckers had a small piece on the fact that betting shops near the printers who were handling the print run had stopped taking bets on X character dying because a lot of people had been putting money on it.

Well, that's how I would have written that article. But no. They named the character. I was miffed at that.

When book 7 came out i got it from the bookshop then went home and read it in a day to avoid stuff like that.

it is only a spoiler BEFORE the first transmission. People on the Strictly FB page who have been to the Saturday recording quite often post the winner before the Sunday results are broadcast. Now that is a spoiler and annoying. Mind you the "Sunday" results show is annoying anyway.

At Christmas my mum told me the plot of the film Last Christmas..,no point in seeing it now! I did say to her ‘you realise you’ve just ruined that and I haven’t managed to go and see it yet!’ As usual she wasn’t bothered! I heard it was a crap film but we were going to see it between Christmas and new year. Why do people need to post spoilers etc?