Spoilers: The Statute of Limitations

 SPOILER WARNING: A rant.

I live in the UK, so with a great number of movies/TV shows etc... the release dates over here are a long way behind those in the USA, but sometimes even when we are just a week behind with a show, I don't think it's unreasonable to expect a spoiler warning on a review or when someone is about to start live-tweeting about something so people like me who don't want to see spoilers (I know some don't mind being spoiled) at least have the option to look away.

I have only just seen a spoiler for a show that I watch less than 24 hours after it has been aired. And not just a little scene, but a HUGE character development. And with absolutely no spoiler warning whatsoever. And before all you social network people say "you should have muted the tags" - it wasn't tagged, so that wasn't possible. Also, web twitter doesn't allow you to do that does it? (If it does without an unofficial add-on that would be GREAT)

I co-run a fan-site for a pair of actors. Recently one of those actors was cast in a new major motion picture made from a famous series of books. I decided I would start to read said books. The next week, as I was looking through the tags on tumblr (a.k.a. spoiler central) for news on this actor as I do every week, I find a MAJOR spoiler about one of these books just posted there. No warning. And not even the one being made into the movie.

The excuse I was given when I thanked them very kindly for the spoiler, was "dude, the books have been out 6 years."

Evidently I should know the endings to all books/films/television shows that have been made in the last decade. Or maybe longer? What do we think? Twenty years?

I had the same thing just a few days ago on GetGlue, a site where you "check-in" to things you are watching. I have only recently started to watch Supernatural. Yes, yes. I am fully aware that I am late to that party, seeing as it began airing in 2005, but does that mean I should have known absolutely every single plotline and character arc that has occurred since it began? Because I didn't and I don't want to. Yet, someone posted a massive spoiler on there - a character death (that has occurred quite recently) no less - and when I commented, they said "I'm surprised you haven't heard about it before. It's been all over the media." (why, when I've only just started watching a show, would I have seen anything about it?) and that if I didn't want to see spoilers, I shouldn't check-in to GetGlue. So now I've to exclude myself from certain websites just because people can't type two simple words:

SPOILER WARNING

If I'm watching something I've never seen before, no matter how old it is, I don't want to know what happens before I see it. What's the point in that?

What is YOUR statute of limitations on spoilers? Should there be one? Should we have to avoid certain places/websites just so that we don't see spoilers?

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