EDITORIAL: How SPOILER Articles Are Affecting ComicBookMovie.com

EDITORIAL: How SPOILER Articles Are Affecting ComicBookMovie.com

Articles containing spoilers are beginning to affect this site. Want to know what I'm talking about? Find out more after the jump.

Editorial Opinion
By StewartGGriffin - May 07, 2016 04:05 PM EST
Filed Under: Other


Spoilers suck. While there are people out there who can enjoy something and not care about being spoiled, there are still a vast majority of people who value the feeling of discovery when watching something for the first time. For some people, even the slightest description may be a spoiler, or at least imply that a certain spoiler would happen. Even trailers can have great moments that lead to great reactions, and having those moments spoiled may cause for an underwhelming reaction. As you can see, the point is that spoilers suck.

Articles that contain spoilers, whether they be for trailers, movies, TV shows and more have been showing up on this website more commonly. I’m talking about stuff like “Things That This Movie Got Right and Things It Got Wrong” or “10 Ways This Movie Sets Up Future Installments”. Articles such as these are being published every time a big movie hits theaters, or more accurately, every time someone on ComicBookMovie.com sees the movie in question, and these articles were not common a year ago.

My whole reason for stating this is the fact that Captain America: Civil War is in theaters now. It came out yesterday in the U.S. and last week in the UK. Not to mention the amount of people who saw the film earlier. I had the privilege of seeing the film yesterday, on May 6th, the date they announced that it was coming out on, and the date that the majority of the public most likely went to see it. My point for mentioning this is that the articles I mentioned earlier (I’ll be calling them “Spoiler Articles” to make life easier) have been appearing on this site for about 2 months now. There were spoiler articles for Daredevil Season 2 and Batman v Superman, and I honestly let those ones slide because they didn’t show up until a couple of days before they came out. However, several spoiler articles for Captain America: Civil War were published WEEKS before the majority of visitors to this site even saw the film. I even had to avoid this site for almost a week before I watched the film, and that was extremely difficult. That being said, I knew that the spoiler articles trend needed to stop.

Let me just get one thing out of the way, I love this site. This is the site that I go to everyday to find out news about upcoming stuff. This is my favorite news site and I would recommend it to everyone. The time that I had to stop coming to this site to avoid Civil War spoilers, 5 days to be exact, was the longest time I was away from this site. I do not mean to call anyone out or insult anyone. I just think these spoiler articles are affecting not only my experience on this site, but possibly others. That being said, here are my issues with the spoiler articles trend, and how this issue can be resolved. Unfortunately, this editorial will contain SPOILERS (for things such as Arrow) in order to demonstrate my issues. I know that may sound hypocritical, but in order for change to happen, you need to fight fire with fire.

Alright, now on to the editorial; yes, that was all an intro. So let me start off with an example of what I would consider a straight-up SPOILER ARTICLE. It was an article I saw a little while back on ComicBookMovie.com that angered me quite a bit. It involves the TV series “Arrow” (getting that spoiler out of the way right off the bat). For those who watch Arrow, you’ve known since the beginning of this season that someone was going to die. Set photos revealed the name on the gravestone, thus revealing who died. Now when spoilers such as these leak, I personally believe that they should not be posted on this site at all. Even if you do not click on the article, articles containing spoilers should just be left a secret, in order to satisfy the people who dislike spoilers. Anyways, here’s the article that was posted that contained the spoiler for who died in Arrow. As you can see, the description given pretty much gives away who it could be.

Really? Was that hint at all necessary? By this point, we obviously all know who it was that died, but for those unfortunate people to have seen this article’s description before viewing this episode (myself included), they now had a solid idea of who it most likely was. This bothers me because it could have been anyone on the show. The hint destroys that possibility and narrows it down to TWO characters (Laurel or Thea).

While that Arrow article is definitely one of the spoiler articles I mentioned, spoiler articles such as those do not happen very often, nor should they ever. I just wanted to include it in this editorial because it bothered me. But now I bring your attention for the whole point of me writing this editorial. These articles…

You’d think articles such as these would start making their way online a couple of days or so after the movie was released in America (cause once it’s released in America it’s pretty much worldwide), but no. These articles started showing up WEEKS before May 6th. WEEKS before many of the people on this website even got the chance to see it. Articles similar to these were also posted around 3 days before Batman v Superman came out. Granted, 3 days compared to 3 weeks is nothing. But like I previously stated, these articles were non-existent just last year.

If you want people to read articles that contain spoilers, why post them before people get to see the movie? Why put thoughts of what to expect into people’s minds when some people prefer going into movies blind? These articles were getting too out of hand before Civil War came out, and I had to stop coming to this site in fear that I would read something too spoilerish. I avoided this site, and who knows who else could have due to the same reason. That has never happened before and should never happen in the future.

Now I come to one last pet peeve I would like to address in this editorial: trailer spoilers. For those who believe that trailers can’t have spoilers, they most certainly can. If there is a great moment in a trailer that you weren’t expecting, you are likely to have a great reaction. If you know the moment in the trailer is coming, the reaction just isn’t the same. It’s not very different from having a movie spoiled for you. So, I’ve made the point that trailers sometimes have great moments that should be kept secret before watching the trailer. That being said…

The biggest moments of each of these trailers are spoiled in the headline, summary, and/or thumbnail. Why can’t people just watch the trailers on their own? ComicBookMovie.com spoils trailers like this a lot more commonly nowadays. It’s extremely annoying for those who want to be surprised by the contents of a trailer for a movie they’re excited for.

To basically sum up everything I’ve stated in this editorial, leaked spoilers for movies or shows SHOULD NOT be posted on this site. If they continue to be posted, don’t leave hints in the summary or thumbnail. People are not stupid. Articles that contain spoilers for movies SHOULD NOT be posted until a few days after the movie is released worldwide. You can wait, and more people will read the article. Lastly, DO NOT put trailer spoilers in the headline, summary, or thumbnail of an article when trailers come out. If anything, label the post with “TRAILER SPOILERS” so people can go watch the trailer on YouTube or something, then come back to the article.

I know I may have rambled a bit in this post (it’s only my second editorial), but I just want change to happen. I hope you all agree with me. If you do, then spread the word all throughout this site and perhaps change can happen. If anyone has any questions, comments, concerns, etc., I will gladly reply in the comments. Thank you all for reading!
 

THE 4:30 MOVIE Interview: Filmmaker Kevin Smith On How His Passion For The Theater Shaped New Film (Exclusive)
Related:

THE 4:30 MOVIE Interview: Filmmaker Kevin Smith On How His Passion For The Theater Shaped New Film (Exclusive)

THE FRANCHISE: Trailer For Max Series Starring Daniel Brühl Reveals Chaos Inside World Of Superhero Filmmaking
Recommended For You:

THE FRANCHISE: Trailer For Max Series Starring Daniel Brühl Reveals Chaos Inside World Of Superhero Filmmaking

DISCLAIMER: As a user generated site and platform, ComicBookMovie.com is protected under the DMCA (Digital Millenium Copyright Act) and "Safe Harbor" provisions.

This post was submitted by a user who has agreed to our Terms of Service and Community Guidelines. ComicBookMovie.com will disable users who knowingly commit plagiarism, piracy, trademark or copyright infringement. Please CONTACT US for expeditious removal of copyrighted/trademarked content. CLICK HERE to learn more about our copyright and trademark policies.

Note that ComicBookMovie.com, and/or the user who contributed this post, may earn commissions or revenue through clicks or purchases made through any third-party links contained within the content above.

RextheKing
RextheKing - 5/7/2016, 8:34 PM
I've always said, if proper spoiler tags are present and there are no spoilers in the headline, description, or thumbnail, if you get spoiled by clicking on and reading the article, you have yourself to blame. What's going on now, well some of it, is not that. Agree 100%, except that if users want to post spoiler article about a film weeks/days in advance before release they should be allowed too, so long as they do as I stated above. Now as you said it would make much more sense to post these article days after the release if they want to maximise their views, but if they want to [frick] themselves over, let them.
TheManWithoutFear
TheManWithoutFear - 5/8/2016, 1:39 AM
I think spoilers in the article are fine, but i hate when there are spoilers in the headline/description. I like that you showed the example of when there is a spoiler tag in the headline, but the description/thumbnail image makes it obvious what the spoiler is. That annoys me too.

Of course i did offer a solution to this problem last year, but so far nothing has changed:

http://www.comicbookmovie.com/dc_tv/arrow/the-perfect-solution-for-avoiding-spoilerific-headlines-on-cbm-a117027
StewartGGriffin
StewartGGriffin - 5/8/2016, 10:54 AM
I had envisioned an idea similar to yours @TheManWithoutFear

I personally believe it's great idea. Hope your listening @JoshWilding
JoshWilding
JoshWilding - 5/8/2016, 11:34 AM
@StewartGGriffin @TheManWithoutFear - That's a very good idea, but a decision which isn't up to me. However, I don't spoil stuff in headlines and teaser images when it comes to news items, so that doesn't really apply to me anyway. :)
StewartGGriffin
StewartGGriffin - 5/8/2016, 11:50 AM
@JoshWilding You don't and I really appreciate that but there's still the issue of spoilers being on the site weeks before a movie comes out. Why post them if no one's going to read them? Not to mention the trailer spoilers which are quite annoying.
TomSolo
TomSolo - 5/8/2016, 9:18 PM
@JoshWilding - Would it be possible to have a section just for Spoiler articles?
CrappyNappy
CrappyNappy - 5/8/2016, 2:36 AM
That's just Josh milking it for money. He knew that no one had seen the movie, yet he felt the need to bust out these spoiler articles anyway.

He's so far removed from comicbook fandom. He's just another Buzzfeed/whatculture/zergnet journalist now.
kong
kong - 5/8/2016, 6:57 PM
@CrappyNappy - He's smart if anything else. He knew that placing those articles there weeks ahead would put them in to readers minds, so as soon as they get out of Civil War they run back to CBM and read his articles.

Can't blame him, I just don't click.
BloodyBed
BloodyBed - 5/8/2016, 4:24 AM
I have come to terms with the fact that I can come here and have stuff spoiled, or I can avoid this site like the plague to have things not spoiled. Even if the site stops, people in the comments will still ruin movies.
exies7
exies7 - 5/8/2016, 4:52 AM
Josh is a hack.
Ineedrevelation
Ineedrevelation - 5/8/2016, 4:54 AM
So basically... stop posting spoiler articles @JoshWilding

but I guess it's too late since the movie is already out and the damage is done
Roodi
Roodi - 5/8/2016, 5:00 AM
Happy Martha's Day.
ANewPope
ANewPope - 5/8/2016, 10:54 AM
@THATguy01 - L
Gmoney84
Gmoney84 - 5/8/2016, 5:01 AM
This article is basically why Josh and his shit writing are ruining this site.
MiopTop
MiopTop - 5/8/2016, 5:06 AM
OT : Apparently the Bluth family stair car is in the airport scene in Civil War, and that makes me very happy
TheManWithoutFear
TheManWithoutFear - 5/8/2016, 6:10 AM
@MiopTop - Haha is that true? That's very funny.
MiopTop
MiopTop - 5/8/2016, 7:15 AM
@TheManWithoutFear - Kevin Smith said he thought he saw it. I didn't notice it but I'll keep an eye out next viewing.
Kyos
Kyos - 5/8/2016, 6:41 AM
I genuinely didn't understand the whole bunch of Civil War related 'Spoiler' articles that were posted in the Features section shortly after the first screenings. Why were they posted then? Did they get a lot of traffic?

I wouldn't know, cause I stayed the hell away from them. And even though I watched the movie as soon as April 27th I even then couldn't be bothered to go back and click them. Not sure what the folks who got the movie just now did.

Aside from that, yeah, agreed about the whole spoiler issue and how it isn't always handled well.
JoshWilding
JoshWilding - 5/8/2016, 11:31 AM
America isn't the only country in the world (shocker!), and Captain America: Civil War was released in at least 30 other locations before it reached the US. I'm not sure why you think spoiler articles would perform better *after* people have seen a movie - Spoiler Alert: a hell of a lot of CBM readers like reading spoilers - or why you think we'd post them before release when so many of you are convinced they'd perform better afterwards (they wouldn't and don't).

The point is, when an article is clearly labelled "SPOILERS" in big red letters and gives nothing away in the headline or teaser, you have nothing to complain about. Don't click on it and don't read comments left by people in posts where it's likely inconsiderate users will spoil stuff...I didn't get to see The Force Awakens until fairly late in the day on the 18th, so I sure as hell wasn't checking on comments all night on the day before and morning of! Complaining about a trailer being spoiled by a teaser image is ludicrous (it's an image meant to attract clicks - welcome to the internet, circa 2016), but I do agree about news posts and being careful there, especially with the Arrow one you highlight. Other than that, if you don't have the self control to avoid articles labelled as containing spoilers or commenting for a week or two, then that's really only your fault.

Anyway, see you on the 19th for my spoiler-filled breakdown of X-Men: Apocalypse!

StewartGGriffin
StewartGGriffin - 5/8/2016, 12:08 PM
@JoshWilding I understand that America is one of the last countries that the movie comes out in, I get you. If a movie comes out everywhere except for one country no one is going to care. But the fact that that one country in particular is where a fair number of visitors to this site are from, the matter should really wait to appeal to them. It's great that you see the movies early and that you want to review it, but have some consideration. Believe me, I did not click on those spoiler Civil War articles before I saw the movie, so I should not be complaining, I'm merely stating my beliefs. Also you straight up reveal that you spoil trailers just to get people to click on your post. I appreciate your honesty, but if it's a trailer for a big movie, people are gonna watch it anyways. Telling them what's in it doesn't change anything. Except that it annoys a number of people. I'm not the only one who feels this way about these articles you know.
Darktime5
Darktime5 - 5/8/2016, 12:24 PM
Ok, I never commented anything here, but I really had to talk this time. I really love this site, and I visit it everyday but I really got spoiled twice...

1) Before the premiere of The Avengers: Age of Ultron. on the title was something like this "Rumor: one of the characters will die in the movie" in the title you didn't have the name but on the image was Quicksilver...wtf?? I watched the movie already knowing that there was a good possibility for him to die...even without open the post.

2) Rise of the Dark Knight...there was a post with behind of the scenes photos, or something like that, and you didn't have the Spoiler alert on the title, and on those pictures took by someone on the set, you could see the actress Marion Cotillard dressed like Thalia...so I already saw the movie knowing the plot twist, that she was in fact Ra's Al Ghul daughter.

and yes...even without open the Arrow posts about the recent death, it was a really easy figure out who was the character that was going to die...even if you don't write the name on the title or put the spoiler alert...you can't put the character's face on the image!

Spoilers sucks...
MileHighRonin
MileHighRonin - 5/9/2016, 4:15 AM
You guys all know their are trolls who love to spoil things. Just stay away from this site during releases.
DCypherD
DCypherD - 5/11/2016, 1:50 PM
The fact that so many people have posted they have to avoid this site, myself included, in order to stay away from blatantly having things spoiled says a lot about far this site has fallen. It should be highly concerning to all on high, and I'd like to see the numbers on revenue gained from spoiler articles vs revenue lost due to people avoiding the site entirely. Would seem counter productive to me.
View Recorder