I don't know if there can be any hard and fast rules regarding spoilers, since individual examples could fall into either category depending on circumstances. But if you held a gun to my head and demanded answers, I would say these are my general rules for spoiler-free living:
1) It's okay to talk about a spoiler without spoiler tags or any warning if everyone in the group/conversation/chat room/whatever has already seen the content in question. This seems pretty obvious, but I think it still deserves being said. If you are working under the assumption that everyone already knows, then it isn't a spoiler and deserves no special protection. Just be careful that everyone really IS in the know. Otherwise you could accidentally inform someone who didn't realize you were unaware that they didn't know the thing they didn't know ...
2) If the original spoiler event is over five years old and a well-known part of popular/geek culture, spoiler tags are USUALLY unnecessary. This is where I would place things like certain Disney character deaths, original Star Wars trilogy spoilers, and the ending of classic stories, like Romeo and Juliette. If you've somehow managed to avoid being exposed to a spoiler so far, that's a pretty impressive achievement and you should watch the source material as soon as possible if you care enough to worry about possible spoilers. Basically, most people already know or wouldn't care if you did "spoil" it.
There are exceptions to this rule - like if you know your friend has never seen the original Star Wars trilogy, but he's planning to watch it this Saturday ... and you can't resist saying the classic line and giggling like a mad man. I mean, come on, man. That's cold.
3) If you are in a mixed group of people who may or may not have seen the source material and the spoiler is relatively "fresh", you should definitely provide a spoiler warning before leaking important bits of information. The more significant the spoiler, generally the longer it should be protected from casual conversation to avoid accidentally exposing an unaware person.
For example, I would generally not talk about significant events happening in the current season of a tv show without checking to make sure everyone around me is already watching or doesn't care about spoilers. But I wouldn't worry as much about letting Season Two spoilers slip if the tv series is in its fourth or fifth season. Because I assume that most people who would care about those spoilers would have already seen the previous seasons and if they are two years behind on the show, they are already putting themselves at significant spoiler-risk.
Technically anything could be a spoiler, no matter how old. If you've never seen the movie or read the book, anything someone tells you could potentially ruin it by giving you information you were not suppose to know yet. But at the same time, the rest of the world shouldn't have to hold its tongue and never speak of certain things lest there still be one person out there who hasn't gotten around to watching the first season of Lost.
1) It's okay to talk about a spoiler without spoiler tags or any warning if everyone in the group/conversation/chat room/whatever has already seen the content in question. This seems pretty obvious, but I think it still deserves being said. If you are working under the assumption that everyone already knows, then it isn't a spoiler and deserves no special protection. Just be careful that everyone really IS in the know. Otherwise you could accidentally inform someone who didn't realize you were unaware that they didn't know the thing they didn't know ...
2) If the original spoiler event is over five years old and a well-known part of popular/geek culture, spoiler tags are USUALLY unnecessary. This is where I would place things like certain Disney character deaths, original Star Wars trilogy spoilers, and the ending of classic stories, like Romeo and Juliette. If you've somehow managed to avoid being exposed to a spoiler so far, that's a pretty impressive achievement and you should watch the source material as soon as possible if you care enough to worry about possible spoilers. Basically, most people already know or wouldn't care if you did "spoil" it.
There are exceptions to this rule - like if you know your friend has never seen the original Star Wars trilogy, but he's planning to watch it this Saturday ... and you can't resist saying the classic line and giggling like a mad man. I mean, come on, man. That's cold.
3) If you are in a mixed group of people who may or may not have seen the source material and the spoiler is relatively "fresh", you should definitely provide a spoiler warning before leaking important bits of information. The more significant the spoiler, generally the longer it should be protected from casual conversation to avoid accidentally exposing an unaware person.
For example, I would generally not talk about significant events happening in the current season of a tv show without checking to make sure everyone around me is already watching or doesn't care about spoilers. But I wouldn't worry as much about letting Season Two spoilers slip if the tv series is in its fourth or fifth season. Because I assume that most people who would care about those spoilers would have already seen the previous seasons and if they are two years behind on the show, they are already putting themselves at significant spoiler-risk.
Technically anything could be a spoiler, no matter how old. If you've never seen the movie or read the book, anything someone tells you could potentially ruin it by giving you information you were not suppose to know yet. But at the same time, the rest of the world shouldn't have to hold its tongue and never speak of certain things lest there still be one person out there who hasn't gotten around to watching the first season of Lost.