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Facebook and Twitter Need Spoiler Tags
Spoiler tags on social media could encourage a culture of courtesy
When the latest episode of Disney’s latest Marvel show WandaVision dropped Friday morning, by Friday afternoon, headlines littered across Facebook and Twitter already offered spoilers that hinted at some dramatic turn or how the series might end.
But it doesn’t have to be this way. Platforms could build spoiler tag features into their products — and in doing so, help solve problems a lot more consequential than ruining TV shows because the same feature could empower communities to moderate access to a wide array of content.
Both Reddit and Discord, for example, have robust systems for tagging text, images, and links that will hide them from users unless they specifically click on them.
The best examples of existing spoiler tag features are those created by Reddit and Discord. These are robust systems for tagging text, images, and links that will hide spoilers from users unless they specifically click on them. Rather than relying on automated tools like word filters, which can be imperfect and difficult to maintain, both sites let users offer a warning to the people who might come across their content.
Using these features is entirely voluntary, but they immediately enable and encourage a culture of courtesy. Communities like the /r/MarvelStudios subreddit often adopt internal rules for when spoiler tags are required. The honor system works surprisingly well because while staying silent about your favorite show on social media or using complex spoiler workarounds is hard, clicking an extra button to blur images or hide text behind a click is an easy way to be courteous to other members of a community.
However, an interesting thing happens on platforms with spoiler tag features: Users start spoiler tagging things that aren’t spoilers.
In Discord servers where users discuss sensitive topics like abuse, participants will…
