Come Sunday, April 12, we plan to be sitting in front of the TV for the Season 5 premiere of Game of Thrones. But sometimes life gets in the way of our favorite show schedules and we can't watch the latest episode when it first airs.
And let's face it — though we'll certainly try to binge-watch all of Daredevil this weekend, we also don't want to know any giveaways before getting through the episodes at our own speed.
It's happened to us all: we miss an episode of our favorite show with the intention of streaming it later, only to scroll through our Facebook and Twitter feeds, seeing nothing but spoilers. Within seconds, we know what happens, who dies and the top moments — without even getting to enjoy it for ourselves.
Instead of avoiding social media like the plague when your favorite show is on, there are some apps and browser extensions that can actually block any news related to a show from your feed.
And seriously — these apps and plug-ins are life savers, because this is the last time we'll get to be entertained by Mad Men, so we should keep those moments sacred.
With shows like Daredevil airing, and others like Game of Thrones, Mad Men and Orphan Black returning this month — save yourself from spoilers with these apps and plug-in extensions.
Spoiler Shield
Protect against seeing or reading anything related to the TV show you care about the most, both on Facebook and Twitter, with the Spoiler Shield. The Spoiler Shield is available to download for free on iOS and Android devices, and there is also a Google Chrome extension.
Download the app or extension and allow access to your social media accounts. Then select the category you want to shield spoilers from, like television, NBA or MLB, and toggle the on/off switch to activate the spoiler shield.
Open Tweet Filter Chrome Plug-In
You can't watch your favorite show because you're stuck writing a college paper or catching up on work, so you're just scrolling through Twitter on your desktop for a second, and bam! Countless spoilers.
To avoid this scenario, download the Open Tweet Filter Google Chrome plug-in from the Chrome Web store. This plug-in extension is for filtering out topics or people from your timeline and hiding them so you can access them later to read all the funny comments about your favorite show.
Once downloaded, open Twitter on your desktop and click Filter on the top menu to the right of the # Discover tab. Then just add any phrases that describe what you want to hide, like Marvel, Daredevil, Jon Snow or Westeros.
Facebook Post Filter
If you're looking to block Facebook spoilers on your desktop, then check out Facebook Posts Filter. The free plug-in allows you to enter keywords that would be featured in posts, working similarly to the Twitter plug-in. Just download to the extension and write any words related to a show, movie, event, topic, etc.
No YouTube Comments/ YouTube Comment Snob
Heading to YouTube to watch a trailer for the latest Marvel movie you haven't seen yet and merely glancing at the comment section will give too much away. Block YouTube spoiler comments by downloading the No YouTube Comments extension of Chrome or YouTube Comment Snob for Firefox. Both plug-ins do the same thing — hide the text comments sections. Comment Snob works for multiple websites, and can be used to block comments with profanity.
Tweetbot/Twicca Apps
Mobile Twitter users can prevent spoilers from leaking by downloading the app Tweetbot for iOS or Twicca for Android. Tweetbot allows you to block messages from users without unfollowing them, as well mute hashtags and keywords. The only downside to this app is it costs $19.99. Twicca for Android devices is free and essentially offers the same features.
Of course you should also do the smart thing and avoid googling your favorite show when it's set to air or immediately after, to prevent spoilers from popping up. You might want to avoid Instagram if you follow people who like to post a RIP photo of the latest character to be killed on Game of Thrones, and refrain from texting your Orphan Black-obsessed friend until you get a chance to catch up.
Photo: Alan Levine | Flickr
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