According to a post by Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Threads, Meta’s Microblogging platform, is testing spoiler texts.
Spoiler text refers to words (or images) that are greyed in a post and are only readable if you click to view them manually. As the name suggests, spoiler texts are often used on platforms like Discord and Reddit to help people communicate about new movies, TV shows, or books, allowing people to communicate without revealing plot points or twists for those who are not accidentally caught up in the process.
This is a great quality of life upgrade on the part of users, but it also helps meta by encouraging more conversations about pop culture without worrying about ruining others.
“Popular shows like “The Last of Us” and “The White Lotus” have regularly trended in threads during the season. This is a clear indication of the growth of the app’s entertainment and the community of pop culture enthusiasts,” Meta said in a press release.
Spoiler text is useful in other situations, such as obscuring text or images that are not a violation, but are not useful for some users. (Look at my friends sharing their #BruiseWatch update after the Frisbee game.)
As a feature currently under test, spoiler text/images are not deployed to all users. For those who have it, text or images can be marked as spoilers by highlighting them before posting and selecting “Mark Spoiler” from the menu that appears.