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You’re watching your favorite TV show, chatting on Twitter with fellow fans, actors and the producer of the show. You pause the show to refresh your favorite beverage then press Play to resume the action. You glance at Twitter and read a tweet about a massive plot twist that just happened on your show, spoiling the episode for you.
Spoilers. They can ruin an experience for you faster than Android fans visiting a line outside an Apple store. Reading a spoiler on social media can take away the enjoyment of watching your favorite show, sporting event or reality TV episode. The thrill of finding out what happens can be blown by a well-meaning tweet or Facebook post.
Sometimes enjoying TV means avoiding social media so your fun isn’t ruined by spoilers. Perhaps you’re in a later time zone and are waiting patiently for a TV show to start hours after it has already aired on the East Coast. Or maybe you like to watch a show time-delayed on your DVR so you can skip through the commercials. Perhaps you are looking forward to watching the Monday Night Football game tonight but have to catch Dancing with the Stars first.
In each of these instances you may be avoiding social media because you don’t want to see posts that may reveal more than you want to know. But by avoiding social, you may be missing out on the posts you do want to see.
Free services have been developed to help you enjoy social media without encountering any spoilers. Using these services can help you use social media sites without fretting about your show being spoiled for you.
Twivo
Twivo is a free extension for Google Chrome that can block tweets for you that have specific hashtags. When you’re caught up on your TV watching and want to read the tweets you blocked, Twivo will display them for you.
See also, 15 Fantastic Chrome Extensions to Make Your Life Easier.
To use the extension, download it from the Chrome webstore and visit Twitter. Your Twitter stream will have a new heading:
Type in the hashtag you want to blog and click on Record. Twivo will hide tweets containing that hashtag from people you follow. Don’t worry, you’re not missing out on those tweets, just blocking them until you’re ready to see them.
When you’ve caught up with your TV viewing and want to read the hidden tweets, click Play and the tweets that were hidden will now be revealed.
Twivo was developed by a 17 year old girl named Jennie Lamere who was inspired to develop Twivo due to her frustration at seeing spoiler tweets for her two favorite shows, Dance Moms and Pretty Little Liars. She solved her problem when she developed Twivo while competing in a hackathon in April. Lamere won not only her category, Best Use of Sync to Broadcast, but also won the entire hackathon, beating out professional developers.
Spoiler Shield
Editor’s Note: Spoiler Shield is no longer available in the iTunes App Store.
If you’re looking to block spoilers on Twitter or Facebook using your iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch, check out Spoiler Shield, a free app in the iTunes App Store. With Spoiler Shield you can easily block TV shows and sports teams from your Twitter and Facebook feeds.
To get started, download the free Spoiler Shield app from the iTunes App Store.
Open the app and authorize your Twitter and Facebook accounts, then set your shields. You can choose from dozens of TV shows such as Boardwalk Empire, Survivor, Breaking Bad, Big Brother, Mad Men and more. You can also choose your favorite sports teams from the NFL and Major League Baseball.
Toggle your shields on when you want to block spoilers. You can then peruse Facebook and Twitter using the app without worrying about spoilers ruining your fun. When it’s safe to see all tweets and Facebook posts again you can toggle your shields off or exit the app and view Twitter and Facebook from another app.
Spoiler Foiler
Editor’s Note: Spoiler Foiler is no longer a working website.
If you’re a fan of Breaking Bad, like I am, and haven’t yet finished watching the final season, like I haven’t, you may fear reading spoilers on Twitter.
Good news! Netflix has you covered with Spoiler Foiler.
Head to Spoiler Foiler and authorize your Twitter account. (You don’t need a Netflix account to use Spoiler Foiler.) You can now see your Twitter feed with all tweets possibly referring to Breaking Bad blocked out.
Spoiler Foiler doesn’t depend upon the people you follow using proper hashtags, it blocks any tweets it believes might reveal spoilers. Click on the tweet to reveal the blocked information.
Note that Netflix uses a very liberal approach to the words that might reveal Breaking Bad information:
Perhaps it would be easier to just catch up on the ending of Breaking Bad…
Your Thoughts
Do you hate spoilers? Are you excited to discover free solutions to spoiler tweets? Have you ever read a spoiler on Twitter? Do you wish there were ways to block spoilers on emails, text messages and face-to-face conversations? Let us know in the Comments section below!
Hi Carolyn – I’ve never read a spoiler on Twitter, but I probably don’t use it enough for that to be a problem. What annoys me are the trailers some TV shows sneak in, showing scenes from next week’s episode before the closing credits – VERY irritating!
Hi Susan, Yes, those sneak previews can be irritating to some but fun for others. Good previews don’t spoil the next episode but entice you to watch it. But not all previews adhere to that rule.
I have had social media spoil TV shows for me. If I’m watching reality TV shows, it’s fun to follow the contestants on Twitter to see their live tweets. But if I get behind in watching a show or am watching a different show first, I might find out results from Twitter before I see them on the show. So I try to stay off of Twitter but that’s not as good of a solution as these tech tools are.
I’m glad you’ve never had a show spoiled by social media, Sue, and I hope it never happens! 🙂
Hey Carolyn,
I’m with Sue, I don’t really go to Twitter to find out about shows and I don’t really follow any of those programs or accounts.
Facebook has ticked me off a couple of times but what I did was unlike their page. I didn’t want to find out the results until I got to watch the show which sometimes is days later. Whenever I see something with a particular name in it I just scroll quickly past it and don’t look at it at all. Yeah, gotten in the habit of that but good to know there are some apps and extensions now that can solve this a lot better for us.
Leave it to you to share this great scoop with us.
Thanks Carolyn and enjoy your day.
~Adrienne
Hi Adrienne, Yes, I’ve had friends post spoilers on Facebook so the Spoiler Shield app is a very useful one to have. I can understand that people want to discuss their favorite shows but then people who don’t want to know can have that show spoiled for them.
Spoiler Shield is free and easy to use so you might want to give it a go the next time you’re waiting to watch a show.
Thanks for this list. It is really helpful.
I like the Twivo.
Hi Amelia, Welcome to The Wonder of Tech! I’m glad you found this helpful. Check out Twivo, it’s free so why not give it a go? 🙂
That’s a great collection of tools. I have no idea where you get all this cool stuff from, but keep it coming. 🙂 I don’t watch TV that much, but I sure hate spoilers. 🙂 These tools will soon come in handy as more and more of us get addicted to Twitter and Facebook, or simply discover that Twitter is a fast and awesome source of breaking news.
Hi Churchill, Great point. Even if you don’t watch a lot of TV, it only takes one spoiler to ruin a show for you. Whether it’s a sporting event or a TV show, you want to find out what happens via your TV screen, not your computer screen.
You’re right, Twitter is an excellent source of breaking news but using it wisely is important. Thanks for sharing your insights with us, Churchill!
Thank you so much! So sick of spoilers turning me off my favourite shows!
Hi Matt, Welcome to The Wonder of Tech! Me too, I had been trying to avoid social media when watching TV shows because I watch them delayed usually. But I felt like I was missing out on what was going on with live tweets. These tools will definitely help us enjoy social media while avoiding spoilers.
Thanks for stopping by to share your thoughts here, Matt. 🙂
Hi Carolyn,
OK, I confess, I don’t have an iphone, just one of those basic phones without internet capabilities ~ there I said it. I get a lot of grief from my family members for not having one, but hey, I don’t have this problem either 😉
This is a pretty cool app though. I’ve heard the frustration people have with getting TV shows, movies, games, etc spoiled for them. But what’s so amazing is that this was developed by a 17 year old girl. I think she’ll probably have a technical career ahead of her.
It’s funny that you mention ‘Breaking Bad’. We just started watching it. I never would have thought it would be something I’d be hooked on – but it is!
Anyway, thanks Carolyn for the heads up, I’ll definitely pass it on.
Have a wonderful day 🙂
Liz
Hi Liz, Yes, there are quite a few Breaking Bad fans who swear the show is even more addictive than the crystal meth the show covers.
If you’re doing fine without a feature phone, no need to upgrade to a smartphone. Smartphones aren’t for everyone.
But some people do like to follow along with social media on their computers when they watch their shows. Spoilers can definitely ruin the fun whether you’re online with a smartphone or with a computer. Either way these tools can be helpful in preventing that from happening.
Yes, Twivo is a very impressive tool, made even more impressive by its developer. She certainly has a bright future ahead of her!
Hello Carolyn !
Awesome and amazing are the only 2 words that can describe this post.I never thought such tools can exist on the internet . I do agree that tweets or spoilers can be frustrating at the time we’re enjoying our favorite show/match . I will check out these all tools and would try them out . Thanks for sharing the info .
-Pramod
Hi Pramod, I’m so glad you love these tech tools! I completely agree, these are very exciting for fans of TV and social media like us. I have been frustrated too by seeing spoilers on social media so it’s great to have free tools to prevent that from happening.
Thanks for stopping by and sharing your thoughts with us, Pramod. 🙂
Spoiler Shield looks pretty interesting IMHO Thanks for bringing it up!!!
Hi Josh, Welcome to The Wonder of Tech! You’re very welcome, I’m glad you discovered Spoiler Shield here. Feel free to check out plenty of other great tech at The Wonder of Tech!