A Note on "Spoilers"

Hey Dharma Blog,
I would like to point out how great it is that we've got some good debate raging in the comments section. This is always the point in the season where LOST has set up a lot of pins without knocking too many down. Brace yourselves for a few more weeks of that, before the show enters the home stretch and starts setting up for the finale. Until then, let your crazy little minds wander.

We have had a few instances of "spoiler alerts" in the comments section lately. So you know, here's our (Maggie and I's) position on spoilers: we don't read 'em, nor do we really support them, but we're not going to tell you what you can and can't post on here. This is America!

How to Alert To the Possibility of Spoilers
BUT. If you must read ahead, as it were, please properly alert those of us who prefer to watch the show unfold with characters, dialogue, moving pictures, action, colors and emotion rather than reading it on a web site. El_kin put on a "spoiler alert" clinic last week when he posted the following:

"Stop with the theories, check the next link if you want to know what is actually going to happen!
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SPOILER ALERT!

This is a screen capture of a yet to be aired episode, so you are warned: https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcsqidOTzU0_Z5gtr13dOyjwmmabAfis9fHAPSZdQNCodZwzI90FLcnLNQ93makBq61w_hx4sqsYNszdnyMiUlofA5qXvc39gCCtYQhxTzWme88n_H_h-MJoYsavd_7FfFN69HU708v_XB/s1600-h/ben.jpg

Source: DARK UFO Spoilers
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This is the proper way to denote spoilers. Thank you, el_kin. This way, if you want to read it, you know it's there. If you don't want to read it, you can skip it without learning anything.

Disguising Your URL
One note on URL's. If you're spoiler URL is:
www.RuiningTheEndingofLost.com/ben_is_an_alien_married_to_kate

Please go to tinyurl and change it to a more cryptic URL. It will convert it to look more like this:
http://tinyurl.com/yo6cjd

Note: That tinyurl link will take you to a really cool video that shows the entire Oceanic 815 crash, pieced together and synchronized. You'll like it. (NO spoiler, I promise).


To Recap
1. You may post spoilers.
2. But you must mark them as such. Or your post will be deleted and your first-born will be fed to the smoke monster.
3. If your URL gives away the story, change it using tinyurl

And finally. I won't judge you if you read spoilers. I will judge if you like Sheryl Crow, because every time you listen to a Sheryl Crow song, the terrorists win.

But my take is this: the creators and writers of this show have spun a fantastic story for us. It's a lot of fun to watch, in large part because of all the "Holy shit!" moments. Personally, I'd rather experience those moments in the manner that the writers intended them, rather than reading about them a few weeks beforehand. I think the minds behind this show have earned that.

Again, please continue to comment away. We love reading the theories, the comments, the "did you notice..." moments... all of it! Thanks for making the Dharma Blog part of your LOST routine. We hope you continue to do so until Maggie and I submit to Island madness and are rendered incapable of writing about the show due to time-travel-nose-bleed-itis.

Thanks!
Charlie