Your news feed on Facebook may soon become a more noisy experience, with the social network giant now testing auto-playing videos with the sound turned on.

First spotted by Mashable, the trial of auto-audio is currently underway in Australia with one version of the test seeing sound playing immediately as the video begins (note the videos already auto-play but with sound turned off) if sound is enabled on the given device, with a second version allowing users to turn sound on using an icon that sits at the bottom right of videos versus the current requirement to open up the video to hear the sound.

Both versions are said to include a pop-up message informing users how to use the controls, along with an option to set sound to “always off” in Facebook settings.

Facebook confirmed the trial, saying in a statement that “We’re running a small test in News Feed where people can choose whether they want to watch videos with sound on from the start … For people in this test who do not want sound to play, they can switch it off in Settings or directly on the video itself.”

“This is one of several tests we’re running as we work to improve the video experience for people on Facebook.”

Please no

The last paragraph is incredible to say the least, given that Facebook may actually think that auto-playing video with audio is something that could “improve the video experience” on the network.

Facebook has invested big money into video, including launching 360 degree views, support for virtual reality content, and more, to the point where video on the network is said to have seen a 66 percent rise over the last 12 months in average daily video views per user, although half of those video plays are with the sound turned off.

The lack of audio being used in some 50 percent of plays have seen video creators become innovative in how they show their videos, complete with text banners above and below a video, and in many cases the inclusion of subtitles on videos so they can be understood without the audio playing.

As it stands, video on Facebook isn’t annoying even if it does auto play as a user scrolls down their newsfeed, but the addition of audio is another matter.

Imagine scrolling down the page to have random videos blurt out whatever it is they are playing; not only would it be highly annoying, it may also persuade people to use Facebook less as it’s not always appropriate to have audio blurring out loud from a device, for example when someone is on Facebook in a public space or (and it does happen) in the workplace.

Please no, Facebook.

It’s understandable that you are always experimenting and trying new things, but auto-playing video with audio is a step too far and will not be appreciated by this user.

Image credit: 132604339@N03/Flickr/CC by 2.0