The social media giant Facebook has announced a new 'snooze' feature will allow users to mute keywords.

The company sites examples of using it to avoid spoilers from a TV show or film.

In a blog post, Facebook's newsfeed product manager Shruthi Muraleedharan said: "Ever read a spoiler online before you've watched the last episode of the season? Or maybe you waited years for a movie sequel only to have your favourite blogger reveal the ending?

"We've all been there. To prevent future heartache, we're beginning to test the next addition to our suite of newsfeed controls, Keyword Snooze".

The function is located in the upper right-hand of a post.

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It gives people the option to temporarily hide posts by keywords, which are pulled directly from text in the post.

Users who choose to 'snooze' a keyword will not see posts in their newsfeed containing that exact word or phrase from any person, page or group for 30 days.

Ms Muraleedharan added: "Even though we work to show you the most relevant posts on newsfeed, we don't always get it right.

"That’s why we've designed features like See First, Hide, Unfollow, Snooze, and now, Keyword Snooze."

The move comes just a day after Facebook announced a further change.

It will feature Child Rescue Ireland (CRI) alerts in cases of missing children in newsfeeds for the first time.

While Twitter has allowed its users to mute keywords in an effort to curb cyberbullying since 2016.