Threads, the text-focused app from Instagram, is launching a new tool meant to encourage users to discuss TV shows and films on the platform … without fear of spoiling them.
In what the Meta-owned platform says is a first for an app of its kind (sorry X and BlueSky), Threads will let users hide text or images that spoil a piece of entertainment (or anything that can be spoiled), simply by marking it as a spoiler.
When a user marks it a spoiler, the text or image will be blurred until whoever is seeing the post selects it and asks to know more.
You can see the feature in action below:
The company notes that TV shows like The White Lotus and The Last Of Us have routinely trended on Threads, which underscores the degree to which people are talking about entertainment on the platform. Eliminating spoilers helps further encourage those discussions.
X, of course, is still the largest text-based platform (though all of the major players also support photos and video content), though since Elon Musk acquired it users have described a vibe shift when it comes to the content highlighted by the algorithm. Threads launched two years ago while X, which was then still-called Twitter, was in the midst of shifting its priorities.
Threads is betting that by leaning into pop culture and entertainment, which crosses political lines and is consistent year-round (unlike, say, the news cycle, which can be unpredictable), it can pick up more users looking to discuss the latest in film and TV.
