85% of Facebook users watch videos without sound (are you compensating?)

A Facebook a day keeps boredom away

If I had a dollar for every time I casually scrolled through Facebook throughout the day, I could almost supplement my income. (And, if I had a dollar for every time I used the phrase “If I had a dollar,” I’d be a damn-near Rockefeller, but I digress…)

I know I’m not alone in this pastime as I always see others perusing social media on their smartphones. Half of the time, I’m not even taking in what I’m seeing, it is simply just something to do.

No sound, no problem

I use scrolling through Facebook on my phone as a way to kill time while sitting in waiting rooms or sitting on the train. As a result, I tend to never turn the sound on for any videos I pass on my newsfeed, as I am usually sitting amongst others.

However, I’ve found that, even when I’m sitting alone, I almost never activate a video’s sound unless there is something stipulating that I need the sound on for that particular video, or if someone tags me in a video.

For a while, I thought it was strange that I opted to rarely use sound, even when alone. I’ve since learned that I’m not the only one partaking in this subconscious nostalgia for the silent film era.

Many neglect sound

Digiday reports that multiple publishers stated that near 85 percent of people neglect to use sound when watching videos on their Facebook feed. Website LittleThings reports that 85 percent of their monthly views (around 150 million) are viewed without sound.

News site Mic, with the same monthly average as LittleThings, reports 85 percent of their 30-second videos are played sans sound. And, PopSugar’s silent video views range between 50 and 80 percent. We’re hearing many are experiencing roughly that same average.

Facebook is designed for silence

This is in large part due to the fact that Facebook has developed a means for playing videos without requiring sound to simultaneously take place. Many users have gotten used to this format and, apparently, prefer it.

Popular sites that often run videos on Facebook feeds, including Buzzfeed and their food baby, Tasty, make silent viewing easy as they put subtitles on many Buzzfeed videos and recipe text on Tasty videos (examples below). This makes taking in the video in its full caliber possible, even without the sound.

Are your Facebook videos failing?

This percentage is important for brands and professionals to keep in mind when developing videos. A whopping 85 percent of people not using sound are looking for videos to fit that preference.

Are you compensating with subtitles or highly visual content that can exist without sound, or is it a video of you talking that the majority of people may never hear?

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