Star Wars & Avoiding Internet Spoilers

With the new Star Wars film approaching, I expect many are laying low this week in an effort to avoid film spoilers. The slightest word could ruin that first filmgoing experience – be that an actor’s name trending on Facebook, an article on Google news results or the mere mention of the elusive Luke Skywalker. In the informal holiday spirit, here is my take on staying spoiler-free on the internet.

Too many guides resort to ‘bury your head in the sand’. While technically the best way to do it, most of us cannot just unplug and find a nearby cave to hide in. With the best will in the world, we cannot shun the internet entirely. For my part, making websites without the web would prove cumbersome. How then to avoid spoilers when professional obligation forces you to use the internet and social media?

Word Replacer Chrome Extension

Introducing Word Replacer, a Chrome extension that swaps dangerous words with others of your choosing. Just pick your spoiler-prone terms, find a suitable replacement and let the browser do the rest. For reasons unknown to most, my safe word is ‘bread’. Tidbits about Star Wars film production latest? Bread. New character killed off in Game Of Thrones Season 6? Bread bread. Browsing BBC Sport? You get the picture. So long as my news and social browsing is contained to Chrome, I have a spoiler-free, bakery-loving week ahead.

Download Word Replacer on the Chrome Web Store. Simply install the extension, then list your spoiler terms one by one until you’ve got all bases covered. Don’t limit your terms to character names: think settings, actors and actresses, common typos and famous members of the production team. Ideally, your search results should show something like this:

The official Star Wars website stripped of its space words.

Unfortunately, I cannot say the same for article thumbnails. Many TV episodes have been spoiled by ‘reaction video’ images and shock screenshots after the event. All I’ll say is, tread lightly…and may the force be with you.