Nasty surprise-spoilers in trivia items.

It's probably not that they're "douchebags". Most likely many just don't know that they should add the word "SPOILER:" :


"8. Spoilers = Please try not to include anything that reveals key elements of the plot at all, but if you can't avoid it, begin your item with:


SPOILER:


This tag will then be recognized by the database and automatically placed beneath a SPOILERS! warning, so that anyone who does not wish to know what happens can avoid reading it."


( https://contribute.imdb.com/updates/g... )


That being said, I never read trivia with tv series that I watch. It's just too risky, since the word "spoiler" also means different things to different people. There are plenty of info that someone could consider as a spoiler. It doesn't have to be someone dying etc.

Edit: Related thread where Mr. Needham also comments:
https://getsatisfaction.com/imdb/topi...

According to the warning text, it's very clear the spoiler warning is only relevant to the specific episode. So even with the warning, I used to feel safe reading those trivia items after watching the episode.

Not anymore, though. I just stopped reading trivia items completely.

Sometimes when submitting various info, there's "Message" in the page with some important info. My earlier point was that "SPOILER:" tag is not mentioned, and I believe it should.

However, trivia can always include "spoilers" for someone, since some trivia can be a spoiler(ish) for person A and not really a spoiler for person B (some, especially the deaths of the characters, are of course undisputed spoilers).

**Trivia Message below:** (this comes up when you're adding Trivia to IMDb)

This is the trivia list and it's for interesting facts about the movie and its production. Your Trivia should be interesting (to you and at least one other person) and relate to the title. One way to think about your potential Trivia item is, “Could it ever be the answer to a question on a TV quiz show?” If the answer is yes, and we don’t already have it listed, then please submit it.

For more information, please see the Trivia Submission Guide.

If your submission contains a reference to another name or title that is currently listed on the site, please link it using a qv link. For information on using qv links please see our guide.

I agree that in some cases it can be a matter of opinion, whether or not something is a spoiler, but that's not what I'm referring to. I'm only referring to the cases where it's very clear that something is indeed a spoiler, in an obvious enough way that should leave no place for debates. Regarding those particular cases, I believe a solution should be found.

Since I'm pretty new to these forums and I'm not really sure how the system works, I've got to ask -  who exactly are the people who receive the reports about such trivia items? Do those guys usually know anything about the relevant movies and TV shows, or do they just make arbitrary decisions, based solely on the information provided to them by those who submit the reports?

IMDb data editors probably get hundreds (if not more) of trivia submissions in a day - or at least in a week. They can't "catch" all the spoilers. I would suggest that you would submit a correction to those "clear" spoilers that you may encounter. I mean now they're still listed, I assume. Or you can report them here (just list the title and people can then probably find the spoilers).

But yes, I would also suggest that IMDb could add some clear guidelines about the spoilers in the "Message" that you get when adding Trivia (now the text below is kinda hidden in some other guide that you have to click and it's not visible in the same page where you actually submit the Trivia):

Please try not to include anything that reveals key elements of the plot at all, but if you can't avoid it, begin your item with:

SPOILER:

This tag will then be recognized by the database and automatically placed beneath a SPOILERS! warning, so that anyone who does not wish to know what happens can avoid reading it."

If there's a rule I think should be applied in this case, I believe it would be that when giving references to other episodes, it should be done looking back, not looking forward. The trivia item should be added to latest relevant episode, and reference earlier episodes only. This way, the risk of spoiling anything for others is minimal.