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Star Wars Prequels Social Networks The Media

Reddit Is Banning Users That Post Star Wars 7 Spoilers (softpedia.com) 268

Posted by timothy from the spoiler-alert dept.
An anonymous reader writes: A few naughty users have started spamming Reddit with Star Wars 7 spoilers, but also hoaxes. Some known Star Wars fans with Reddit accounts were even bombarded with PMs about the upcoming film, with trolls trying to ruin the movie before they saw it. As a result, Reddit is now banning any user that posts Star Wars 7 spoilers. The movie officially launches tomorrow; do you plan to see it? Do you care about spoilers?
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Reddit Is Banning Users That Post Star Wars 7 Spoilers More

Reddit Is Banning Users That Post Star Wars 7 Spoilers

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  • What about me? (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 17, 2015 @10:40AM (#51136737)

    So, how about people who like other movies and don't like getting spoilers?
    Or is this a Star Wars Master Race thing where everyone else are second class citizens that doesn't deserve protection?

    • Re: What about me? (Score:2, Insightful)

      by Anonymous Coward

      Reddit is shameless about who they take bribes from.

    • Re:What about me? (Score:5, Informative)

      by MisterSquid ( 231834 ) on Thursday December 17, 2015 @11:17AM (#51137061)

      So, how about people who like other movies and don't like getting spoilers? Or is this a Star Wars Master Race thing where everyone else are second class citizens that doesn't deserve protection?

      Encountering new narratives is one of narrative's fundamental pleasures. Novelty is so important to narratives that in many cases entire classes of aesthetic effects and domains of hermeneutic structures depend on an audience's relative ignorance about what happens next.

      So, it's not just courtesy to label narrative "secrets" spoilers if they are unexpected; doing so protects the value of narratives for future audiences, and the act of people coming to their own understandings about a narrative is worth protecting because, in many ways, our very identities are constructed from the kinds of narratives we encounter and the lessons we learn as we experience (and later reflect on) the things we experience as we discover a narrative that is new to us.

      I take a pragmatic approach. If I'm on the web and writing about a recently-produced (within a year) narrative, I label my reveals with clear ***SPOILER ALERT***s. On the other opposite hand, if I'm writing for (say) a literary journal about Thomas Pynchon's _The Crying of Lot 49_, I don't bother with them because the target audience understands they are expected to have already read the narrative I'm discussing.

      But most discussions which contain narrative "secrets" fall somewhere in the middle, like a 400-year old story called _Romeo and Juliet_ which is one of the cornerstones of Modern aesthetic culture. Or maybe you're discussing a 2500-year old story about a king searching for the cause of the plague across his kingdom called _Oedipus Rex_ (well, the spoiler comes up front in that play, but you get the idea). My habit is to label those middle-ground reveals as spoilers, too, something I think everyone should do to protect the value of those narratives for future generations.

      In other words, be a good human being and care for those who come after you by labelling your spoilers and being sensitive to the audience who will encounter what you write perhaps in an entirely different context.

      I applaud Reddit's decision to block (banning may be a little extreme) users who want to destroy the aesthetic and epistemological value of a long-awaited narrative. I wish Slashdot and all my other Internet favorites would do something similar not only for Abrams' _The Force Awakens_ but for ALL narratives.

      For my part, I knowingly took a risk even coming here to post, given that Slashdot is (rightly) renown for allowing all speech to flourish (to various degrees subject to the moderation system). But that uncritical acceptance of all speech also means that I will not come back to this thread until AFTER I've seen Abrams' contribution to the Star Wars franchise.

      See you at the movies!

      • Re:What about me? (Score:5, Insightful)

        by c ( 8461 ) <beauregardcp@gmail.com> on Thursday December 17, 2015 @11:27AM (#51137151)

        Encountering new narratives is one of narrative's fundamental pleasures.

        Then there's Hollywood, which prefers to substitute explosions for new and novel narrative.

      • You are right, people should be respectful of each other.

        I think what is being discussed here are people who are not respectful and take pleasure in annoying others.

        However, I personally don't believe that any narrative can be spoiled.

        Two reasons I know this to be true (at least for me):

        First, I never am the first to watch anything. I watch TV series and movies when they are "free" on Netflix or Amazon Prime. If they are not there, I will never see it. It takes a LONG time for stuff to get there, if it ever

    • Re:What about me? (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 17, 2015 @11:42AM (#51137251)

      Reddit is not banning anybody.
      The mods of the general movies sub-reddit are banning people who post them in the area they control. The PSA linked in the summary tells people to avoid certain other sub-reddits where the spoilers are also being posted.

      Or is this a Star Wars Master Race thing where everyone else are second class citizens that doesn't deserve protection?

      Goood, gooooood, let the Butthurt flow through you.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Chrisq ( 894406 )

      So, how about people who like other movies and don't like getting spoilers?

      Rosebud was his sled

    • The needs of the many, my friend. The needs of the many.
    • Comment removed based on user account deletion
      • No, no, no... Rey is Kylo Ren's twin _sister_! They are both the result of an incestuous relationship between Luke and Leia, so the farce is strong in them both!

    • Or is this a Star Wars Master Race thing

      More like a religion [jedichurch.org], actually.

  • ...shame on you.

    This is directed at Abrams, not at any Star Wars movie he's involved with.

    Just remember, the best pickup line for that fangirl is, "do you want to see my hairy wookiee?"

    Probably won't work, but it's still the best of a slew of really terrible options.

  • This is an interesting situation (and one without any immense consequences) where the principles of free speech and playing nice obviously run squarely into each other, and how a forum handles the conflict will be informative as to how they might handle more significant incidents. To me, it seems that if a subreddit wants to ban spoilers, they can, but it shouldn't be site-wide. In fact, those wishing to talk openly about a movie most people haven't seen should be encouraged to do it in a subreddit where ev

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by RogueyWon ( 735973 )

      It's not really a freedom of speech issue, surely? Reddit is a privately owned and operated forum and it's entirely up to them which users they want to ban and which posts they want to delete.

      Now if we got the point where Reddit was so omnipresent in modern life that it was impossible to find a job or take out a mortgage or order a pizza without being on Reddit, I might start to get concerned.

      But it isn't. It's a fairly daft forum filled with a lot of people who mostly talk crap (so entirely different from

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Mal-2 ( 675116 )

        I never said Reddit was obliged to respect freedom of speech. I was merely stating that refusal to do so now is highly indicative of their inclination to refuse to do so when it actually matters.

        Having checked Voat, spoilers are flying but they're clearly marked -- probably because people aren't getting banned for breaking some unwritten site-wide rule.

      • It's not really a freedom of speech issue, surely? Reddit is a privately owned and operated forum and it's entirely up to them which users they want to ban and which posts they want to delete.

        Reddit being privately owned means Reddit imposing censorship doesn't violate the First Amendment. However, I'm becoming more and more convinced it should. It's not exactly a secret that companies own the US government. When those very same companies claim all places where people gather as their private property, then

  • Meh. (Score:4, Insightful)

    by waspleg ( 316038 ) on Thursday December 17, 2015 @10:46AM (#51136799) Journal

    The movie officially launches tomorrow; do you plan to see it? Do you care about spoilers?

    No. No. Who wants to pack in like that anyway? If I go at all it'll be at an off hour hopefully long after the crowds have dwindled. If it's another Lens Flare the Final Frontier movie I won't have any interest anyway.

    J.J. Abrams isn't terrible but he is all about fan service and playing it safe so I don't expect much in the way of interesting. I'm sure Disney wants their money's worth.

    • I've seen spoilers already. There's a "Shocking turn of events" at the end of the movie.

      I could care less that I know, I'm still going to see it, but not opening weekend.

      • I could care less

        So you do care. You care-bear, you.

        • Re: (Score:3)

          by JBMcB ( 73720 )

          So you do care. You care-bear, you.

          On a scale of 1 to 100, I care 2, so yes, I could still care less.

      • Are all of the trees trying to kill everyone by making them commit suicide?

        Does it turn out that everyone is dead and we are just seeing ghosts?

        Perhaps the all of the SW universe is just a community isolated from the rest of the galactic community for ideological reasons...

        I can't wait to find out what the twist is!

    • I'm actually going to wait a week and see it on Christmas Day. We're Jewish and so Christmas tends to be That-Day-When-We-Can't-Go-Out-And-Do-Anything-Because-Everything-Is-Closed. Except for Chinese restaurants. Yes, it's a stereotype but we do go out for Chinese food on Christmas. Star Wars and Chinese food means I'm actually looking forward to Christmas Day!

      • Heh. I'm doing Jewish Christmas, same as you, same plan and everything.

        And I'm not even Jewish.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Nidi62 ( 1525137 )

        I'm actually going to wait a week and see it on Christmas Day. We're Jewish and so Christmas tends to be That-Day-When-We-Can't-Go-Out-And-Do-Anything-Because-Everything-Is-Closed. Except for Chinese restaurants. Yes, it's a stereotype but we do go out for Chinese food on Christmas. Star Wars and Chinese food means I'm actually looking forward to Christmas Day!

        When I was in grad school I had an Arabic teacher who was a nice guy but was also a fairly militant atheist. He would say that his family would always eat Chinese on Christmas because they were the only place open. Of course, he also thought that urban living was the height of civilization and said he never went outside I285 (the Atlanta perimeter bypass).

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by Cederic ( 9623 )

          You didn't ask him why he didn't just cook at home, as he does every other fucking day?

    • Re:Meh. (Score:5, Insightful)

      by aaaaaaargh! ( 1150173 ) on Thursday December 17, 2015 @11:21AM (#51137103)

      I was planning to watch it, but the aggressive marketing has really put me off. I'll probably skip this one or watch it much later.

      The same thing happened for me with the Hobbit movies and Fallout 4. I have no problem with normal amounts of advertising, but too much is just too much.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Nidi62 ( 1525137 )

        The same thing happened for me with the Hobbit movies and Fallout 4. I have no problem with normal amounts of advertising, but too much is just too much.

        I told my wife I wanted to get Fallout 4 but was going to wait a year or so to get it and she said why don't you just get it now? I told her I'm just cheap :)

      • Doesn't matter when you watch it. They will get your money one way or the other.

        • Sorry, that was a little flippant.

          I actually do understand your point.

          For me the thing that really turns me off about Star Wars in general is the merchandising... I walked into a Walgreens and immediately saw at least 3 Star Wars branded items. Star Wars Make-up for women, Star Wars candy and Star Wars holiday decorations... and that was just within about 10 feet of the entrance to the store.

          I am going to be doing last might Xmas shopping and I am absolutely dreading it... as I always do when I procrastinat

          • xmas muzak which starts exactly December 1st and lasts until two months before Easter, when it's replaced by... Easter muzak.

      • I don't even see/hear the advertisements because I just don't consume my entertainment with ads. That said I'm still sick of it simply from everyone else hyping it constantly.

  • Comment removed (Score:5, Funny)

    by account_deleted ( 4530225 ) on Thursday December 17, 2015 @10:56AM (#51136877)
    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  • For me I have only watched the trailers and the one trailer that was put together. I try my hardest to avoid all other information about the movie and can so I have done so very well. I especially ignore everything right now even "spoiler free" reviews. I want to try and relive the experience I had as a kid. You knew next to nothing going in and came out with an imagination running wild. I have emptied my cup and I await till tomorrow to fill it.

    Banning is a bit heavy handed. They should have just crea

    • But no matter how hard you try, you will never "recapture" that childhood experience.

      You know why?

      Because you have already seen a Star Wars movie. You already have been "spoiled" because the ideas are not new. It is the same universe with the same rules and generally the same type of characters.

      • I'm really curious how would this fit with the book-created Universe. Probably not at all, which is a wee bit sad as far as I'm concerned.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by Nidi62 ( 1525137 )

          I'm really curious how would this fit with the book-created Universe. Probably not at all, which is a wee bit sad as far as I'm concerned.

          Pretty sure they declared the entire expanded universe books as non-canon. Which is sad, I remember liking the Rogue Squadron books, the Corellian Trilogy, and I think I had a little anthology of short stories that were pretty good.

          • It is sad indeed.
            Oh well, I guess sacrificing 200 books for one (so far) movie must look good in some ledger.

  • Um (Score:5, Informative)

    by damicatz ( 711271 ) on Thursday December 17, 2015 @10:58AM (#51136897)

    Reddit isn't banning anyone. The moderators of that particular subreddit are and they are not Reddit employees. Someone doesn't seem to understand how Reddit works.

    • The Cossacks work for the czar.

  • Reddit, how stupid can you get with free speech to want to pull something like this? And is Star Wars the only movie line that can command this kind of stupidity, or should we expect this crap again when the next Hunger Games comes out?

    Spoilers happen all the damn time online, across many forms of entertainment. If studios want to avoid this crap next time around, then release it everywhere on the same day. At least you're only fighting time zones then.

  • "Reddit" is banning users? *OR* just the mods of one sub?

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by cfalcon ( 779563 )

      This is a really dumb headline, and I'm surprised it has so many people on the bandwagon about it. You nailed it entirely, but its actually more than one- not that this makes any difference at all.

      What's going on is not spoilers- there's whole places devoted to posting spoilers. This is a reaction to a sustained effort of the trolls to spoil the movie. You'll be reading a comment about something else and find out Vader is Luke's father inline just like that. Or the tags used to organize stuff will thems

  • We got our first screenings here in the UK 15 hours ago, of which I attended.

    Thoroughly enjoyed it, will probably go back and watch it again but in a better theater with bigger seats and actual legroom, oh and in 3D cos the person I went with doesn't like 3D in cinemas but I do.

  • Was a thought provoking yet twisted movie that my wife utterly hated. So she got revenge on me by making me watch Melancholia.

  • Spoiler alert:
    In this one, Han shoots third.

  • Spoiler bullies (Score:3)

    by radarskiy ( 2874255 ) on Thursday December 17, 2015 @11:39AM (#51137235)

    Worse than any people that post spoilers are the spoiler bullies that try to define anything as a spoiler to manufacture indignation. At least with spoiler posters everyone can agree on the fact that what they are posting are actual spoilers.

    I have recently seen spoiler bullies claim that posting the name of a character is a spoiler. I've seen people claim that discussion of what has not yet happened in a series is a spoiler. There is no way to have a rational discussion with people like that.

    Perhaps I should call them Spoiler Justice Warriors instead.

  • Moderators of /r/movies subreddit banning users from /r/movies subreddit != "reddit banning users".

  • Ultimate spoiler (Score:5, Interesting)

    by The-Ixian ( 168184 ) on Thursday December 17, 2015 @11:48AM (#51137313)

    I'll tell you what the real spoiler is: Seeing the movie.... it gives away EVERYTHING!

    I guess I understand why people don't want spoilers.. intellectually, anyway.

    But seriously, do spoilers *really* ruin a movie? Are you not entertained because someone told you about a piece of the story? I mean, you know that there is going to be wookies and droids and the force... you know what you are getting into.

    What about movies that do that whole backwards in time style that show the ending first?.... that is technically a spoiler, right? Yet it doesn't detract from the movie because it is out of context.

    I mean, people still watch shows about WW II and we all know how that turned out... but it doesn't seem to make it any less of a good story...

    • I'll tell you what the real spoiler is: Seeing the movie.... it gives away EVERYTHING!

      I guess I understand why people don't want spoilers.. intellectually, anyway.

      But seriously, do spoilers *really* ruin a movie?

      Yes. Not always a lot, but yes.

      Are you not entertained because someone told you about a piece of the story?

      No, because I wanted to see that piece of the story in the film for which it was made.

      I mean, you know that there is going to be wookies and droids and the force... you know what you are getting into.

      And those aren't spoilers. They're facts we already know about the universe. Parts of the movie that would legitimately surprise me, or major events that will now distract me since I know they're coming but don't know when, those are spoilers that can ruin a movie.

      What about movies that do that whole backwards in time style that show the ending first?.... that is technically a spoiler, right?

      No, because the story is still being told in order, it's just the chronology that's reversed.

      Yet it doesn't detract from the movie because it is out of context.

      I mean, people still watch shows about WW II and we all know how that turned out... but it doesn't seem to make it any less of a good story...

      We know how the war ended up which is

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Cederic ( 9623 )

      people still watch shows about WW II and we all know how that turned out

      You say this.. Inglorious Bastards definitely didn't follow the historical narrative.

  • The headline is a lie. There's whole places on that site where the spoilers are EVERYWHERE, deliberately. Certain forums on the site are banning is users who try to push spoilers out to people, such as direct messaging people spoilers, and putting them in the "movies" section of the site (the sections are user defined).

    Also I think the ban isn't even site wide.

    Basically, if you go to the movies section and post star wars spoilers, you get banned from that section. In fact MANY sections have that rule, be

  • They began in 1977 and it was a trilogy, that's it. The rest don't exist. That's my reality and sticking to it!

    And Han shot first goddamnit

    • Actually, it's a trilogy of trilogies, I believe Lucas announced that back in the 70's. The only characters that were supposed to be in all 9 movies were the robots; I forget which Japanese folk story Lucas was stealing from,
  • forceblock chrome extension, get it and use it people, this thread is already flagged for spoilers

  • The movie has been released yesterday in Italy. You can go to news.google.it and with a little help from Google Translate you can get all the spoilers you want :-)

    • I ask somebody who knew 2 weeks ago who Rey and Kylo Ren's parents were, and they told me: "Didn't you know, a preliminary script was leaked a year ago, and somebody posted a plot synopsis!" Apparently the story hasn't changed much since then, so these "spoilers" are old news, some people have known the basic story line for over a year now! And yes, there are already published on the 'net full plot synopsis by people that have already seen the movie. As long as the tell you up front a post contains spoilers
  • Kylo Ren is the bastard child produced by a drunken one night stand between Luke and Leia!
  • Star Wars spoilers? NO WAY. Ah Reddit - you are the Florida of news aggregation sites.

  • ...anyone that isn't a 13 year old Reddit user has nothing to be concerned about.

  • If the movie officially launches tomorrow, how did I see it at the official launch date yesterday? Am I a time traveller?

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