This time last year I was conducting interviews with TV critics, entertainment journalists, and editors to gain a better understanding of how the vocal reactions of spoiler-phobes may impact their work. Noelle McElrath-Hart and I analyzed the interview discourse through a Community of Practice framework to understand how the writers and editors were implicitly engaging in spoiler meaning negotiations and promoting mutually beneficial spoiler practices–practices that make careful consideration of reader needs and wants. I previewed some of our initial findings in a 2015 post.
Now my flip flops (and heels) are packed. I’m ready to go.
Our detailed findings will get their first audience at the Western States Communication Association Convention in San Diego on February 29th, at 10:30 in the Del Mar room. The presentation, titled “Burned After Reading: Toward a TV Spoiler Social Contract,” will be part of an exciting panel focused on major media in transition.
When I presented some of our findings from another spoiler study at the National Communication Association Convention in November, audience members described some painful spoiler experiences during the Q & A period. We’ll see if Monday’s presentation turns therapeutic as well.
