Well I think if that's the message you're getting from all of this, then you're missing 99% of what's really being said about it. The point isn't "fans shouldn't discuss things on message boards," and nobody's said anything resembling that, as far as anything I've seen here. We are talking about widespread fan reactions and feeding of the media frenzy, which IS a direct extension of fan interest and spreading of those things all over social media. This isn't just happening on this message board -- I'm all over social media, and have a large number of followers and readers, and the constant spreading of the more clickbait articles and speculation is combined with large amounts of worried fan conversation and anxiety, non-stop questioning of every media outlet and @'s to the folks involved (when they're on social media platforms), and so on.
I have literally had to create a long list of people I've muted because they flood me with non-stop daily questions arising from every new rumor, every new interview, etc about these films (DCU, MCU, etc). And I'm not remotely the most-read person covering this stuff. I see the comment threads on these articles all over, I see the social media, and it's pretty glaringly obvious that a large segment of fandom is very loud about their non-stop anxiety and concerns, and they are always pushing for more-more-more information and sharing every story and rumor that comes along.
This board is relatively calm and thoughtful, aside from a few extreme examples. Social media isn't like that, it's vastly worse, as are the message boards on so many of these articles. I'm serious, I wish I could show you my @ mentions and how I am bombarded with questions fueled by DCU fan fears and anxiety. If I'm getting that much of it, and if I see so much of it elsewhere, then the other press outlets get it and see it too, and that's what motivates so many of them to keep pushing these stories. It's called "clickbait" for a reason -- it baits you into clicking, and the "you" is "fans" of course. And from there it spreads, the stories are shared, there are floods of questions and reactions all of social media and message boards, etc etc etc.
I guarantee you, the studio and reps all know this and see it. I talk with them about it regularly, fan reactions and the fact fans encourage this by being such a loud and consistent source for spreading it and demanding more, is a topic that comes up among the press and editors, among the studios, and so on. This isn't speculation or opinion, it's simple truth and I'm telling you something most of you probably already know anyway since it's been happening a long time already and is just getting worse lately.
Nobody is saying "don't discuss it" or "don't feel strongly." We're saying, "If you keep feeding the demand for these stories, the press hears and obliges, and that is creating an overall problem that could have negative consequences you'll all hate down the road." It's all matters of degree, of trying to be realistic about what's happening, and about seeing our own roles in what's going on and deciding to try to be a positive influence or at least not be a negative influence. You can dismiss it, you can dislike hearing it, you can disagree and continue apace, you can resent it and argue against hearing it, but if it winds up causing results that upset you then you can't really say you weren't warned and it'll be hard to have much real right to complain.
Rein it in chap, rein it in. Semantics are rather dull. You got the meaning of my post just fine 
