Remember when it was a big deal that Facebook started auto-playing videos as you scrolled by them in your newsfeed? Facebook recently finished up testing auto-playing sound along with those videos – and apparently decided it was a good idea. So, coming soon, everyone gets auto-playing sound along with their auto-playing videos!
People are watching and sharing more video on Facebook than ever, and we’re focused on continuously improving the video experience.
To be specific, the sound for each video will fade in and out as you scroll through them. Setting your device to silent will silence the sound. If you wish you can permanently disable auto-playing sound by deactivating the “Videos in News Feed Start With Sound” found in Settings.
This will greatly benefit those of us who make use of Facebook videos throughout our online marketing campaigns since our advertising message will be heard by a much larger audience. That also means there is a much larger emphasis on what the first few seconds of your audio consist of since this will now be a mental ranking factor – helping users decide if they want to scroll to the next video or watch what yours.
Keep your ears ready for the change. Thankfully, unlike auto-playing background music on a website, this is something that’s able to be turned-off.