Spoilers

Who else dragged themselves out of bed at 6am so they could watch Game of Thrones before they left the house this morning? You? That's 1. You too, that's 2. You, you, you, 3,4,5,6,7,8......78. Ok There was a tonne of us going by the twitter updates popping up as the sun rose. It's bonkers ain't it, the fact that a mere tv show can be chosen over precious sleep.

But lately it's an annoying necessity. Social media has become a minefield of spoilers posted by selfish MUPPETS who don't give a fuck about ruining a show for others. After I watched (and loved ) episode 3 of series 8 I had a scroll around twitter to see what others thought of it. Within seconds I caught sight of 3 absolute doozie spoilers that would ruin any bit of suspense if you saw them before watching. Even more annoying was the fact that they came from people I didn't even follow because the latest twitter update has filled our timelines with accounts strange to us. We can see them because people we know are replying to them.

It's seemed especially bad in the last week with the place being riddled with GOT spoilers, Endgame spoilers and of course Line Of Duty spoilers. The only way to avoid them seems to be to watch the film/show as soon as it appears or to just avoid social media altogether. But then you have to avoid all media because newspapers and radio shows are just as bad. I know these huge spoilers sell copy and generate clicks but it would be nice to get some manner of grace period.

The internet is brilliant but this is a huge downside of it. The speed at which news gets to us. Imagine what would have been spoiled had it always been around or as ubiquitous as it is now. The return of Bobby Ewing in Dallas. The end of The Sixth Sense. The identity of the murderer in Psycho. The end of Friends. The "along the watchtower" scene from Battlestar Galactica. Who stole the whistle in Father Ted. Every episode of 24 when it was good. The climactic moment from The Empire Strikes Back. Keyser Soze. The Murder On The Orient Express. Planet Of The Apes. The Shawshank Redemption. So much stuff would have been ruined. And some much stuff is now being ruined.

Cop on. Don't do it. At least wait a few days.