14 DAY TRIAL // This probably sounds pretty familiar since it would not be the first time a social media platform is trying to prolong your stay in front of the computer using this kind of tricks.
First, there was YouTube trying to force you into watching more videos with its now-famous auto-play feature, which is supposed to make you sit through many more suggested videos based on what you have clicked on.
This feature was not very well received by the YouTube community, and everybody was grateful that they had the option to turn it off, for good.
How this new feature will work
However, it would seem that Facebook is closely following in its footsteps as it was recently revealed that they have in mind to add yet another feature to their online videos.
Recode reported that Facebook is currently experimenting with a similar function which would allow videos to play successively. In other words, as soon as you think you’re done with one video, the next one will start playing, without you having to click on it.
Facebook might offer you a few seconds to think about whether you want to stop it or just allow it to play, but this has not been clarified yet.
The reason behind the introduction of this enhancement is quite obvious: Facebook is trying to make us watch more video ads and, of course, to get us to generate more views, whether we like it or not.
Facebook seems to be using the same technique as YouTube with this new feature as there won't be just a random video that will start playing on itself. On the contrary, it will have to be one related to the video you have seen.
Now it remains to be seen if, just as YouTube, Facebook will also have an option to turn it off, given that not many people seem to enjoy this kind of changes, which basically force them to sit through watching countless slightly-related videos.
The reason why people go online is because they have more control over what they see, but if social networks continue to become more and more obnoxious about shoving their content on their users, then they might have to face some serious backlash.