The Spoiler on Spoilers – How to Avoid Them

The Spoiler on Spoilers - How to Avoid Them

By Annie Hebel, News Editor

You’re browsing the internet, minding your own business, when you see it: a meme about that highly-anticipated movie you haven’t had a chance to see yet. And not a small one – it’s about the death of your favorite character. You slam your computer closed, desperately trying to unsee what you have just seen, knowing you will never be able to.

You, my friend, have just been spoiled.

Spoilers are all over the internet. This is understandable – people love talking about movies they’ve seen and books they’ve read. But coming across an un-asked for spoiler can ruin the experience of that media for a person. Fortunately, there are ways to avoid spoilers, because the world can be a wonderful place.

Browser add-ons

One way to avoid seeing any type of spoiler in your feed is to install a browser add-on that blocks any mention of a show or movie. Unspoiler (available on Google Chrome) is an app that puts red banners over any content that may be a spoiler for a show. Once downloaded, the user simply can put the name of a show or movie they don’t want to read about in the box that appears. This app works everywhere across the internet, including Twitter and Facebook.

Direct Twitter Filter

Twitter is easily one of the most spoiler-heavy parts of the internet. Fortunately, Twitter itself has a feature that allows readers to block tweets containing a certain word or phrase. Open Twitter settings, and click on the “muted words” section on the left. Add the name or phrase of anything you don’t want to see – titles, characters, anything.

DON’T READ THE COMMENTS

Comments sections are often full of trolls. Because comment sections aren’t regulated, they’re often a breeding ground for spoilers – you never know when you’ll stumble on an Infinity War spoiler in the comments of a vine compilation. If you can’t resist reading the comments, installing a browser extension to block them may be a good option. No YouTube Comments is a good option if you want to block all YouTube comments. For a broader span of websites, Shut Up will block the comments on any website you tell it to.