If you’re not a fan of movie and TV spoilers, you should probably avoid Netflix’s new website, Living With Spoilers. It serves one purpose: Spoiling major plot twists to TV shows and movies that you haven’t seen yet.
Why would anyone want to do this? Why would NETFLIX want to do this? Well, they created the site not only as a promotional tactic for the fall season of television, but also to prove that spoilers don’t really matter to viewers as much as they used to.
In a survey conducted by the streaming service, Netflix found that 1 in 5 Americans are okay with sharing a plot twist immediately after they see it, and 94 percent (!) say that they don’t feel compelled to stop watching a TV series after they hear a major spoiler.
The following is a quote from a cultural anthropologist Netflix employed to study consumers’ viewing habits:
“In the old days spoilers would just extinguish a show and you wouldn’t watch it. These days, spoilers can actually end up recruiting for the show. They send you a message that it’s really good — that people really care about it and that you might want to watch it too.” (via)
Even though the new website is kind of silly, I do have to say that they’ve got a point. After having no interest in watching Game of Thrones for a few years, the reason I started the show last year was solely because everyone was talking about spoilers and I felt completely left out of the loop. And even though I knew major turning points were coming while I was binge-watching the show, it still didn’t really affect my ability to enjoy it as a viewer.
So, sure…why not? Go ahead and visit Netflix’s new site and spoil yourself…you know you want to.
