[WikiEN-l] Reflections on the end of the spoiler wars

[Steve Summit]

JzG wrote:
> Why do we demand unanimity in favour of removal, when there is
> clearly a complete lack of unanimity for inclusion? The onus is on
> the person seeking to include disputed content to achieve consensus
> for its inclusion.  Where is the consensus for use of the
> vaguely-defined term "spoiler"?

We're never going to get consensus where it matters on this
issue.  The spoiler warnings are on behalf of readers we don't
know personally and will never hear from.  We have a relatively
minuscule number of editors arguing in favor of the warnings on
behalf of those readers, and a slightly larger -- but still
minuscule on the scale of our readership -- number of editors
saying they look "unprofessional" and are unnecessary in an
encyclopedia.  But we've never heard (that I know of) a complaint
from an end reader saying that the warnings were objectionable,
nor indeed a complaint from an end reader saying that an un-warned
spoiler was objectionable.  So we'll probably never know.

(Which I guess is one reason the debate will never end.  I feel
bad posting to the thread at all, given that a problem with this
list is that it's bursting at the seams with people saying the
same things over and over again in numerous threads that won't die.)