Spoiler Alert! When Social Media And Broadcasting Don't Go Hand In Hand

It isn't really all that often I have the opportunity to sit down in front of a TV and watch live television.

Aside from the World Series and the Super Bowl, I haven't watched any full duration of a major television event recently. Any shot at getting an idea of what was going on during awards presentations and favorite reality shows -- whose reruns I manage to miss as well -- has come from the wonderful world of Twitter.

Normally, I'll applaud the frequent updates from news sites and publications, especially the accurate and to-the-point messages contained within 140 characters. As I watched the Grammys this year, the different perspectives brought a sense of unique commentary one wouldn't get just from watching the show itself.

But what about when something is televised at different times across the country? This year's Grammys showcase was set to air at 8/7 p.m. Central -- but the poor West Coasters had to wait till 8 p.m. their time to watch the show.

Several years ago, it wouldn't have mattered that much. But with the craft of live-tweeting bombarding Twitter feeds whether a user likes it or not, those with a quick handle on the succinct social medium may miss the unspoken spoiler alert and crash straight into the spoiler.

Although Twitter is typically used (at least by me) to find out the important news topics and quickly, users with a DVR function or who happen to live on the West Coast when the Grammys are being shown an hour ahead everywhere else might find a distaste for unavoidable surprises quickly becoming discovered.

It's almost like watching your mom wrap your birthday presents...at least when you were little and you didn't know what you were getting anyway.

Twitter, Facebook and other social media is great for interaction and commentary. But will television networks make a change from subsequent telecasting to simulcasts?

Social media sites don't function on time schedules -- there is no such thing as patience in these forums. Spoiler alerts? Out the window. So will other media follow suit?

P.S. The Cardinals won the World Series, the Giants took the Super Bowl and Whitney Houston has passed. If you don't know these things, it's time to get plugged in.