Go on, spoil yourself

Spoiler alert!  That abomination won't actually make your
nasty little Vauxhall Nova go any quicker.

The author Stephen King has got himself in trouble on Twitter a few times for posting 'spoilers' relating to hit television programmes - most recently, the sensationally popular Game Of Thrones.

As an avid Formula 1 fan who can't afford the special Sky F1 channel (and who's often working when races are broadcast anyway), I know all too well the dangers associated with going on the internet when everyone else has already seen something that you're still waiting to watch.  But if there's one thing more irritating than people posting spoilers online, that's people moaning about other people posting spoilers online.

Like it or not, Stephen King (or anyone else) can write whatever he likes on his Twitter account.  If you don't want to read it, don't follow him.  Or, better yet, don't go on Twitter at all until after you've been able to see whatever it is everyone's talking about that you haven't seen yet.

I've been doing this for years.  My general rule is: no social media (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, etc.), emails, TV or radio from ten minutes before the formation lap until after I've been able to watch the race myself.  That may seem like an awful lot of hassle - but when something's important to you, you're willing to put yourself out to make sure you can enjoy it to the full.

Which is exactly the issue I have with people whining about spoilers - it isn't anyone else's responsibility to make sure you're able to enjoy your favourite programmes on television.  If you don't want to find out the score of a football match, or what happens in your favourite drama, or who wins the Grand Prix, it's up to you to avoid finding out in whatever way you see fit - go to whatever lengths you deem appropriate, but don't expect others to restrain themselves on your behalf.

In short, if you know there are going to be things on the internet which you don't want to read, stay off the internet; don't go on the internet anyway, and then complain that other people are talking about things you'd rather they weren't talking about.  If you don't want to see spoilers, it's no one's job but your own to make that dream a reality.