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The Internet is trying to ruin “Star Wars: The Force Awakens.” Every day seems to bring more (and more detailed) news, rumors, photos and trailer dissections, to the point where it’s almost impossible to avoid spoilers.
So what’s my option? Stay off Facebook, Twitter and just about every blog and news site until December 18? Please.
Instead, I’ve installed Spoiler Alert, a Google Chrome extension designed to block spoilers anywhere and everywhere I venture on the Web. It’s not perfect, but it’s helping.
After installing Spoiler Alert, click the newly added toolbar icon to get started. The extension does require you to create an account (using your email address, a password and your date of birth), but other info (like zip code) is optional.
From there you can browse or search things to block. Spoiler Alert divides your options into five categories: sports, TV shows, events, movies and people. (Interestingly, “The Force Awakens” is currently the only title in the movie category. But I’m sure glad it’s there.)
So, yes, Spoiler Alert can also help you steer clear of sports scores, award-show results and, perhaps best of all, Donald Trump.
Nice try, Internet!
Screenshot by Rick Broida/CNET
I added blockers for both “Star Wars” and “The Walking Dead,” then headed to various sites sure to be plastered with spoiler-y content. In some cases, Spoiler Alert blocked the entire site (with the option to let me in, of course); in others, it blocked headlines (but still showed photos, which isn’t ideal).
What’s nice is that you can delve into the settings for each alert and specify end dates, specific people on Facebook and Twitter (you know, your spoiler-blabbing friends) and whether Spoiler Alert should always resort to a full-page block. You can also quickly toggle alerts off — great if you’ve already seen the latest episode of whatever and now want all the discussion.
Enlarge ImageScreenshot by Rick Broida/CNET
One problem I discovered is that Spoiler Alert doesn’t seem to work past the initial page-load. So on Facebook, for example, if you scroll down far enough that the site loads more content, the extension doesn’t block anything in that additional load. That’s a problem.
But this blocker is still in beta, so hopefully the developers can address that. In the meantime, I’m just happy to have at least some line of defense against our spoiler culture. Seriously, people, why would you want to know everything (or anything) about “The Force Awakens” before getting to the theater?
If you’ve found another (possibly better) spoiler-blocker, name it in the comments!
