Should Predictions Be Treated as Spoilers?

We have a prediction about Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD, and in discussing doing a post about that prediction we got on the issue of spoilers. If we post our prediction and we’re right (which we think we are) have we retroactively spoiled the reveal? See what we decided, and an optional reveal of our prediction after the jump.

First, if you want to see the prediction being referenced in this post it’s up on my personal Twitter account. If you don’t, simply don’t click that link and you’ll be fine. It won’t actually be revealed in this post.

As a question of proper Internet etiquette, we’ve decided that when talking about a prediction we should at the very least alert the reader. Not so much because we feel predictions are true spoilers, but because we think going into a piece of culture with someone else’s prediction in your head will influence the way you enjoy that piece of culture.

If we’re watching an episode of SHIELD live with someone, we wouldn’t necessarily want them spouting predictions about what happens unprovoked, and we think that translates to the Internet as well. Obviously, some people love to talk about what might happen on a show they enjoy, and the Internet is a great place to do that. We don’t think everyone wants to stumble across predictions accidentally.

In this case, if you read the prediction for SHIELD then you’ll likely on some level be looking for evidence to confirm it or rule it out, when really you should just be paying attention to the story for its own sake. We won’t always go to such lengths not to mention predictions, but we think they’re worth prefacing a bit as a matter of politeness.

When we do end up writing about this prediction and citing all the reasons we think it’s correct, we’ll do so under a headline like “Our Prediction for Agents of SHIELD‘s Big Reveal” and someone will have to click through. Right or wrong (and again, we think we’re right) having that idea in your head will influence the way people watch the show, and we’d rather just let people enjoy it for what it is.

What do you think? Is it worth trying to put some distance between predictions? We’d love to hear what you think, but please save any comments on the actual prediction for the upcoming post about it.

(image via Florian)

Meanwhile in related links

• There’s a new Chrome extension to block spoilers from your browsing
• Netflix will filter your Twitter feed for spoilers
• A 17-year-old girl solved this problem months ago