The app that blocks TV spoilers on Twitter, and its teenage developer
The app that blocks TV spoilers on Twitter, and its teenage developer
A lot of us like our television on demand. But when you’re also an avid Twitter user, that can reveal a whole boatload of spoilers about your favorite shows.
Enter Jennie Lamere. She loves shows like “Dance Moms” and “Pretty Little Liars,” but couldn’t always watch live. And people she followed on Twitter kept spoiling key plot points. So the 18-year-old high school senior did something about it. After a brainstorm and a hackathon, she came up with 150 or so lines of code, an app, called Twivo.
The aim is two-fold: block spoilers, and recreate the live tweet experience when you watch the show later. Let’s say you love the ABC drama, “Scandal,” starring Kerry Washington as political fixer Olivia Pope.
“If you were on Twitter, into the bar I add onto Twitter, you would just type in ‘Scandal,'” Lamere said. “It would block out all tweets that were talking about ‘Scandal.'”
A green bar blocks out the tweets, so you know they’re there, among all the other links and personal updates, but not visible. Once you’re ready to watch, you’d hit play on Twivo, like you would on a DVR.
“And the tweets would stream down. So you would get the experience of live tweeting without being live,” Lamere said.
She’s developed other programs, but this is her first solo project. What’s the appeal of coding?
“The cool thing is if I think, ‘Oh man, I really wish someone made an app that, say, blocks spoilers on Twitter,’ I just could be like, ‘Oh, I could do that. I’ll make it myself.'”
Lamere expects that Twivo will be ready for the general public in a couple of weeks. And will be free to download.
“I just want to get the app out there. I want people to get to use the product,” said Lamere. “I think one of the main markets will be teens, and like, I wouldn’t want to pay for it.”
There’s a lot happening in the world. Through it all, Marketplace is here for you.
You rely on Marketplace to break down the world’s events and tell you how it affects you in a fact-based, approachable way. We rely on your financial support to keep making that possible.
Your donation today powers the independent journalism that you rely on. For just $5/month, you can help sustain Marketplace so we can keep reporting on the things that matter to you.
