Facebook recently made it so that videos on your News Feed will automatically starting playing when you scroll by them. It’s annoying and distracting, but luckily, it’s really easy to stop this from happening. Here’s what you need to do. If you’re using Facebook in your browser, head into the drop-down menu in the upper right hand corner of Facebook, and click on Settings. Click on “Videos” in the left-hand column, then change the Auto-Play Videos setting from “On” to “Off.” Things aren’t quite so cut-and-dry on mobile – Facebook won’t let you completely turn off its video ads when you’re on the go, but it will let you disable them when you’re not on Wi-Fi. If you’re on Android, open the left sidebar in the Facebook app and tap “App Settings.” Once you’re there, check the “Auto-Play Videos on Wi-Fi Only” box. On iOS devices, head into the Settings app and open up Facebook’s settings. Under “Video,” switch the “Auto-Play on Wi-Fi Only” option on. Annoying, but not tough to do.
About Shelly Palmer
Shelly Palmer is the Professor of Advanced Media in Residence at Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications and CEO of The Palmer Group, a consulting practice that helps Fortune 500 companies with technology, media and marketing. Named LinkedIn’s “Top Voice in Technology,” he covers tech and business for Good Day New York, is a regular commentator on CNN and writes a popular daily business blog. He's a bestselling author, and the creator of the popular, free online course, Generative AI for Execs. Follow @shellypalmer or visit shellypalmer.com.