Before you stop reading, I'm not going to ruin the suspenseful end to Game of Thrones, or whatever TV show or movie you're excited about.
Although, the season three finale of Game of Thrones Sunday June 9, where Jon Snow--- just kidding, I really won't ruin it for you.
Spoiler alerts are everywhere on the Internet and in daily conversation.
Online, they're followed by a lot of space, giving the scrolling reader time to weigh the consequences of finding out information too early. Or, they're coded so by simply hovering over the text with your mouse, you can see the information you so desperately seek.
In daily conversation, spoiler alerts are usually clearly broadcasted, or accompanied by the belated, and conversational faux pas, "oops, spoiler alert."
For me, I love spoilers.
By knowing what is going to happen, I'm able to see all of the elements and their role in leading up to a dramatic conclusion.
I like seeing how it all fits together to create a masterpiece of fiction.
The reason I prefer spoilers may be because I'm literary-minded. I can examine the plot and the characters, the tragic or heroic decision they make and how they become the characters they are destined to be.
Or, it could be because I'm a journalist.
I attribute my voracious and unrelenting desire to know everything as a byproduct, or maybe the reason, I'm studying journalism.
I live on Google.com; it's second nature to throw every fact or rumor I hear into Google and check its veracity.
Whenever I hear a name, it's instinct to plug the name into Auburn People Finder or Facebook and find out everything I'm able to learn about that person in seconds.
In the words of a journalist friend, "it's not creeping, it's investigating."
What people say about themselves, or elect not to say, can tell me a lot about a person. But I admit it's an incomplete picture. That's why I wouldn't claim to know someone based on the spoilers littering his or her Facebook profile.
That's one of the exceptions to my propensity to crave spoilers. The other exception is those one-time-watch movies like Inside Man or The Sixth Sense, where being surprised is the whole point of the movie. Interesting plots are a rarity these days, with most movie reviews containing the words "predictable," or "you see the end coming."
People are far from predictable, another reason why I love journalism and being able to interact with different types of people each day.
Everyone's plot is different, and you can only know people by spending time with them, not by reading the About page on their Facebook profile.
A friend of mine's About page says simply, "you can't begin to know me by this (page), but only through countless hours and countless contradictions."
A spoiler alert is a choice.
Either you can take a shortcut and have an incomplete picture, or you can experience the full extent of what your seeking has to offer.
And if you're claiming to know people based on what you see on Facebook, turn off your computer and go talk to them.
A lot of what we incorrectly assume about people stems from what we see online.
People can't be spoiled; they're permanently interesting and mercurial.
Go see for yourself.
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