Distribution and Spoiler Alerts

MG Seigler, over at TechCrunch, is dealing with some issues regarding spoilers on the web for Game of Thrones (an HBO TV Series)—To The Victors Go The Spoiler Alerts:

And in our Netflix future, it could actually be worse. Using the internet at any time could be navigating a minefield of spoilers, depending on when someone you follow happens to be watching a show.

I found his problems interesting to say the least due to the fact that we have been dealing with issues like this for years, with movies. The recent model of Netflix has spread the worries of spoilers to the less likely television landscape, which, while worrisome, is not surprising nor an insurmountable problem.

So my question to MG is this: how do you keep from finding out the spoilers to a movie? I understand that the bombshells of a TV series are, in some ways, much more tactile, more accessible, and therefore more prone to "watercooler" chatter, even if said chatter is occurring on a plane the size of the Internet.

The Dark Knight Rises had similar secrets that some were interested in spreading when they left the theater at 3am, after a midnight showing. Yet, many people were able to avoid said spoilers because of the common curtesy that surrounds spreading movie spoilers, whether by adding a "Spoiler Alert" item in the article tagline or by not posting remarks until a later date when the "statute of limitations", so to speak, has lifted.

In other words, I am not sure that this is so much about worrying that spoilers exist, but instead creating the culture surrounding such spoilers that people need to be considerate and clear regarding what information they post on the Internet.