Forum:Spoiler Policy... toss it?

Our spoiler policy was established less than 24 hours after the Main Page itself was created. It's old. And I have upheld it for years because it was policy... but not because I agreed with it. There is no reason other than consensus that we have to keep upholding it; old as it may be, it is not written in stone. How would everyone feel about amending it?

And by amending it, I mean we essentially wave goodbye to it.

Nobody benefits from it but the veteran editors. We're essentially just patting ourselves on the back when we revert a spoiler. All of us have already seen the "next episode" clips, and almost everyone is already aware of what actors are coming on board. What is being spoiled? That so-and-so is returning to the show? That Jack goes into a room with his gun drawn next episode? It seems so silly. And who are we protecting? We're not protecting ourselves, because we're the ones reverting them and reading them.

Worst of all, we're forcing our own encyclopedia to not be the most up-to-date resource for 24 online. No new person comes along and says "Look, a 24 wiki, I bet it's a safe place from spoilers". No. It does not happen. And nobody actually reads the tiny fine print on the Main Page. People might become aware of our policy when their edits become reverted, but many of them simply do not know to read their User Talk page where we explain the revert. They just see their edit disappear, become disillusioned, and never return.

This crotchety policy is a turn-off for many potential new editors in other ways too. Imagine coming to the wiki for the first time, and not seeing well-publicized facts about future episodes and the upcoming mini-series. We must look like a dusty crypt. Nothing but old content. I can almost hear the visiting anons shouting cautiously, "Hellooo? anyone in there?" Who wants to join a wiki that, at worst, looks like its community abandoned it years ago, or at best, looks like the community isn't even interested in the newest developments? Remember: we LOOK like we're not interested in the new material because we forbid the new material to be here. The proof is in how many new anons come and add spoilers. There are so many because that is a primary point of interest.

Now we can keep a part of the policy that forbids obvious stuff like leaked episodes, and leaked scripts. But overall I say the time has come to slap on the spoiler page, put it in our past, and join the present. 06:22, November 26, 2013 (UTC)