Things I Hate: Video That Auto-plays
written December 24, 2008

[EDIT: unless you're a video site, just don't do it b/c it sucks infinitely. we all know this by now.]

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  • Scott

    Wait, I’m not quite sure after reading this.. Are you saying that you don’t like sites that auto-play videos?

    :-p

    Yeah, this is a pet peeve of mine, too. Two things often happen when sites do this:

    (a) my web browser suddenly crashes

    (b) I notice my 4-core CPU’s are spiking, and then have to hunt around tabs to find which web page is trying to play stupid video

    I’ve noticed the American Express web site now plays a little jingle when you visit, apparently in a sentimental throwback to Web 0.5 days. I couldn’t figure out where the sound was coming from the first time I heard this (it didn’t used to do this).

    And I’ll add another pet peeve: web sites that are written in Flash. And only Flash. Like http://www.vail.com. Where you have to wade through frivolous animations trying to get to the content you want to see, and can’t command-click links to bring up in new tabs, and can’t copy and paste, and can’t display at all on an iPhone or iPod Touch, etc…

    I would pay good money (at least $5! not even counterfeit!) to hear Andy Rooney complain about auto-playing videos on 60 Minutes. Especially since I’m pretty sure he’s never even heard of a web site.

  • http://runningskull.com JR

    Hmm… I was really trying to say that it’s one of the best design decisions you could make. I guess I’ll have to re-work the wording in some places…

  • Aryss

    Truthfully, it’s quite horrid. More so when compounded by a crappy internet connection. Suddenly I find everything crawling to a halt because some stupid tabbed website decided to load a video on its own accord.

  • http://espn.com Scott

    I completely agree… ESPN that means you fools!

  • Greg

    You need: Flashblock.

  • http://www.pjkh.com Philip Hallstrom

    Flashblock helps, but it’s no excuse. Many sites throw up that little itsy bitsy flash widget in some corner to *test* if you have flash before the flash video will work. Drives me nuts.

    Still, life without flashblock would be much much worse.

  • http://ryanpc.com Ryan

    This is actually one thing I love about Safari on OS X — flash isn’t loaded on a given tab until it’s got focus. This way I can open a slew of links in tabs and not worry about anything playing.

    I’m not sure if this is the case on the Windows Safari release, too, but I’d imagine it is.

  • Reason

    As Internet (and technology) power users, we want absolute control; for us, clicking “play” is the best option.

    Once you put yourself in the shoes of the average, dumb Internet user, you’ll either realize that you are incorrect, or that your argument is pretty weak.

    Following a link and having an item automatically play is the best way to keep the attention of the user. It also avoids the chance that a user will not figure out how/where the content exists on the page, and how to interact with it. Auto-play is a quick teacher for the inexperienced.

    TLDR: Most users are dumb. Goal: make a site that serves the majority.

  • http://runningskull.com JR

    @Greg: I agree. I’ve got flashblock and I go back and forth with it. I do like not having things auto-play, but I sometimes also like to see sites as they are meant to be seen right away. Maybe I like browsing around wishfully thinking that I don’t need it. Then I realize it’s just wishful thinking. :)

    @Ryan: I’m getting a MacBook sooner or later. Hopefully sooner rather than later. ;)

    @Reason: I agree with you to a point. We do have different needs than the “average” user, but I think as tabbed browsing is becoming more prevalent, browsing behavior is changing. I’ve even seen my mom open pages in background tabs, so I know that, to some degree, it’s not just us “power-users”. And still, if you have a video featured prominently on your page, with a big “Click to play” icon in the middle of it, I think that is almost as attention-keeping as just playing it automatically.

  • http://www.plexav.com Kenneth Steinu

    If the presented media is intended as a focal point, that makes sense. Rather than leaving comments like this, it would make more sense if you illustrated how it can in fact contribute to one’s browsing/surfing/jockeying experience. I invite each of you to visit my site Plexav.com where I strive to do that as often as I’m able. In fact, I’ll be doing it in thirty minutes.

  • http://runningskull.com JR

    @Kenneth: Regardless of if the video is a focal point, it’s still rude to interrupt what the user is doing by auto-playing your video. Like I said, requiring the user to click play is not asking too much. If they don’t want to see your video, enough to click a giant “Play” icon, they don’t want to see it at all.

  • Rhomboid

    There is a fantastic greasemonkey script ‘YousableTubeFix’ which among many other handy things can disable the auto-play on youtube pages. http://userscripts.org/scripts/show/13333

  • http://www.gatech.edu/newsroom/release.html?id=2356&ga=1 Paul Stamatiou

    Agreed, autoplaying video is annoying as hell but I don’t think it’s just autoplaying video.. it’s autoplaying anything.. ex myspace music.

    BTW, found your site through reddit just now. I just graduated from GT about a week ago. Thought I’d drop a comment and say hey.

  • Paul Stamatiou

    Oh haha we already follow each other on twitter.. disregard

  • RedditDraggedMe

    I agree with the annoyance, but disagree with the solution.

    Video should autoplay. Audio should be muted. When I do actually reach the tab in time, it saves me time waiting for the video to load/buffer-up.

  • Frank

    If your on firefox just use flashblock. It disables all flash elements on the site until you hit the play button and want them to show.

    It’s a workaround, but it works.

    https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/433

  • http://www.raditha.com/blog/ raditha

    I hope ‘me too’ messages are not on your things I hate list cause i fully agree with you that audio/video that starts playing automatically is really annoying.

  • http://inspiredinfidel.wordpress.com Andre

    Another reason to dislike auto-play/auto-buffer videos (all media for that matter) is if you have to per MB for your internet connection as we in some 3rd-world countries have to. Each page loading/buffering video without my asking wastes my limited bandwidth cap; not to mention my money! There is of course the annoyance factor. But… I realise people have become so lazy / incapable that they can’t even figure out / be bothered to press a play button [sarcasm present].

  • Kiwiguy

    Well I use FireFox with the “NoScript” and “FlashBlock” plugins.

    That stops all that and other netbloat dead in its tracks and speeds up your web surfing since it and reduces the amount crap downloaded to your PC.

    Give it a shot!

    :-)

  • Gideon

    Hear hear. Nothing more annoying. But surfing Myspace is an epic fail either ways. One other BIG annoyance of mine is pre-loaders (WTF is up with that shit, a loader before loading??). If your site is so good that it needs a pre-loader please be so kind to sent me a pdf of the actual information. I don’t want a freakin “web experience”, at least not one that requires me to wait for half an hour only to find that your site sucks.

    Gideon

  • Brennan

    I agree with scott, espn.com is the worst offender of this that I have seen. Not only does it have a video that autoplays on load, they also have an automatic javascript refresh of the page, so the video restarts after a certain amount of time! For instance if you accidentally leave espn.com open while you sleep you’ll be awoken by the dulcet tones of stu scott reporting on the latest ‘slamajam’ [shivers down my spine]. Not cool espn.com!

  • http://runningskull.com JR

    Flashblock and Noscript and other such stuff is a solution, and one that I do use from time to time, but it doesn’t fix the actual problem: people think auto-playing stuff is a good idea.

    I didn’t even think about the bandwidth problems that auto-play can cause, but that’s a good point. I don’t mind videos auto-buffering, since I don’t really have much bandwidth constraint myself, but it is certainly something people should keep in mind when designing sites.

  • http://www.blork.org blork

    Autoplay is aggressive and annoying for all the reasons you list. I’ve been using the “Stop Autoplay” add-on for Firefox for ages, and it works great!

  • zach

    This is a much problem for Firefox vs IE users, simply because we are so accustomed to opening a whole mess of links in tabs. I’m constantly going to a background tab just to stop a video.

    Thanks, blork, for the stop autoplay info, I just installed it.

  • asdf

    Agreed.
    Same problem with pages that auto-play audio.
    Here are my ideas for browsers or browser-plugins:
    - Visual indication of which tab is playing any audio.
    - Preference to by-default never-autoplay media in background tabs/windows.
    - Whitelist and blacklist for autoplaying media.

  • http://www.blogger.com/profile/17756604130342366976 norahaty

    Yes,i agree with all of you .Buuuuuuuuuuuuut
    please how can i stop an auto play downloaded song??someone please inform me,please?

  • http://GregGoodson.com Greg

    JR, what is with all your e-friends? How do you know all these ppl?

    Nerd.

  • Saphirus

    This completly hit on one of my own pet peaves, I’ve essentailly resorted to just muting my computer and listening to music from an external source, to avoid the interruption all around.

  • a dude

    AGREED

  • Dudemon

    Here’s a tip. Stop it from playing, and shut the fuck up. 5 goddamn seconds.

  • http://www.faqpal.com Geoserv

    Amen, I couldn’t agree more. This rates up there with pop-ups and full page ads that fade in over the content when your trying to read it.

    @Dudemon, here’s a tip for you, go read about proper web development and accessibility before you shoot your uneducated mouth off and finally, shut the fuck up.

  • Angel

    hi, i hate autoplay too and sue to this i have my sound turned off due to this annoyance. Yes you can stop it in 5 seconds if you can find the controls, some websites have hidden controls just to stop you being able to mute the player, also some ads have sounds embedded in them and you have no control over this.
    I have found a solution if you use firefox https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/1765 this has been one of the best firefox plugins i have used, it stops autoplay and gives you the option to listen or not :)

  • Pedro

    Hooray! Finally someone wrote an article about the subject so i won´t have to :)

  • Dave

    But without autoplaying videos we wouldn’t have had the joys of…

    “Never gonna give you up,
    Never gonna let you down…”

    :)

  • http://creativeclown.com Zura

    And you know what else is just as bad? Talking! Those voice recordings that will sell you (outloud) what you already don’t want to buy. If I wanted to have commercials, I’d watch tv.

  • Richard

    “You have already won an iPod” mp3 file makes me nutz everytime I hear it.

  • http://www.tomwilliams134.blogspot.com Tom

    This fucking pisses me off beyond belief.

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  • G

    You know what I hate? People who try to be witty and fail epically. (RE: Post #35)

    I agree wholeheartedly with the article.

  • http://beturnhoutbe.blogspot.com/ Lodewijk

    You’re quite right in hating, and all your arguments are mine as well. And I’d like to add one: I hate the impossibility to find that annoying and noise making video (or music player) on the site you just had opened.

    I was looking if someone more clever than me already had made a “Stop Auto Play” for Safari. Because although I like Firefox, it really loads slow the first time I open it. So I prefer running Safari first.

    I regrettably also did see just now that the author of Stop Autoplay for Firefox has no time anymore to work on this add-on. What a pity.

  • http://www.norwichjumpers.tk Savvas

    I have a website running about a dance crew here in Norwich UK. I admit one of the most stupid things I did during designing it was to have a video autoplaying at the front page. After reading this article (stumbled upon it) I realised how annoying this can be, so I removed the autoplay immediately. So thanks for this helpful article!

  • http://www.photosphere.nl Andreesie

    So true, have my own website and I will NEVER EVER play something automatic, nothing, ever, period. to fucking anoying is it. I’m the kind of music freak has big speakers, loud, with music. I don’t want anything through it.

  • http://gkcphoto.blogspot.com G Clark

    AMEN BROTHER! This has been bugging the hell out of me for as long as I’ve been using stumbleupon.. I’m known to rage in the comments of sites that autoplay videos lol.

  • IrishDavid

    Never a truer word typed.. you sir, are a legend.. A bona fide legend..

  • Dan

    So annoying when porn sites do this…am I right guys?

  • Scotty

    I totally agree! I HATE sites that automatically play videos! What’s more, it seems that almost every news site automatically loads videos no matter if you are going to watch them or not, which just adds to the time it take for their pages to load! I also HATE links for videos that are NOT plainly marked! If I want to watch a damned video, I will turn on my TV! I am on the internet to READ, not watch TV, damn it!