I just wanted to chill on my phone for a bit, take a mindless scroll. The last thing I intended to do was spoil the ending of Wednesday season two for myself.  

It wasn’t even a group chat discussion or a friend who ruined the ending, it was my very own Instagram FYP. Sure, I enjoy watching edits and jokes about shows but that doesn’t mean I want to see a straight up spoiler right after a show’s release. This makes me wonder if social media has started to blur the line between sharing excitement and spoiling it.

Not everyone has the time to watch a show right after it drops. After all, what’s the hurry? Just because I took my time doesn’t mean I’m okay with scrolling through spoilers without a warning. Spoilers are still spoilers and it’s a shame I can’t shush the algorithm like I could with an actual person.  

And if this annoys viewers, think about the cast and crew. Considering the amount of time and effort put into making a show, I’d be mad if a plot twist I spent months writing and filming was reduced to a 10 second summary for people to judge without actually streaming. 

It’s not just TV shows, spoilers online spread to movies, albums and even books. Getting spoiled is like reading the last page of a mystery novel first and trying to get through the rest. It ruins the surprise and robs you of the emotional payoff. 

I get that people want to express their excitement online, and that’s fine. But actually posting insightful content like new takes, observations and reactions would benefit everyone and save me the trouble of boycotting social media anytime a new show drops.