I was at a friend’s place today, looking as he scrolled through Facebook. As he was doing so, he told me about how he hated the way Facebook’s videos would kick off in the background, even if you don’t intend for them to play. He disliked the way it did that due to its tendency to eat up his data allowance.

This got me thinking, especially since I am in the ‘Online Video Experiments’ studio. Could it be that Facebook is trying to promote their video capabilities? I find it quite smart, really, but also a bit of a nuisance, as can be seen from how my friend isn’t a fan of it.

But with that, I have managed to discover many more videos as compared to previously, when I would have to click on a video just to watch it. It reduces the effort, all the while giving Facebook users a short preview of the video. It’s definitely more effective, because usually people would voluntarily play a video only if the thumbnail looked attractive or if it had an interesting title. Or at least, that’s how it goes with me.

What a way to push the boundaries of online video in the social media sphere. It’s effective in its own way, not so much in the content of the video, but in the way it puts itself out there, straight into the user’s hands without having them to ask for it.