Twitter exec on how muting feature can help fans avoid Game of Thrones spoilers

People like tweeting about Game of Thrones. They like it a lot, actually — speaking to Vanity Fair through email, Twitter product manager Rishi Tembe said that #GameofThrones was one of the 10 most tweeted hashtags last year.

And that’s all well and good, but what happens when the wrong tweets reach the wrong ears? Live-tweeting TV shows is very popular, and live-tweeting new episodes of Game of Thrones more popular still. But if there’s a Twitter user who can’t see the episode immediately, they run the risk of getting spoiled, and that’s not fun for anyone.

How to avoid this problem? Well, those fans could stay off Twitter until they saw the episode. That would work. But if not, Tembe reminds people that they can take advantage of Twitter’s advanced muting features. Originally introduced last year to deal with online harassment, they’re also handy for fans who want to keep themselves in the dark about big plot twists. Tembe broke it down:

"We always wanted to expand on the mute feature work we did in November, which lets you remove certain keywords, phrases, or entire conversations from your notifications. Now, you can mute from your home timeline, and you can decide how long this content is muted—one day, one week, one month, or indefinitely…Now, whether people are in a different time zone, or just can’t make it home in time for their favorite show, they’ll be able to better avoid spoilers on the platform."

So basically, come season 7, just mute “Game of Thrones,” “GoT,” and the corresponding hashtags for however long it takes for you to get to the TV, and you should be able to enjoy the show fresh as a daisy. Just click on your Twitter icon, choose “Privacy and Settings,” and then “Muted Words.”

This functionality wasn’t implemented by the time season 6 wrapped up, so there was no protecting fans from Twitter spoilers about, say, Hodor’s death (except Twitter abstinence, of course). But even looking forward, this isn’t a fool-proof system. After all, before The Winds of Winter aired, who knew that they would need to block #HolyCrapCerseiJustBlewUpFiveCityBlocks? Still, it’s good to have options.