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Tech

Autoplay Is for a G-Rated World

Social media offered no respite from the live TV shooting.
Screengrab: YouTube

Tragedy struck Bedford County, Virginia this morning when two journalists, Alison Parker and Adam Ward, were shot to death on live TV.

The people viewing the broadcast at home had no choice but to watch the horror unfold, and neither did many social media users. Video of the shooting autoplayed on Twitter, Facebook (despite a content warning feature reportedly implemented in January), and other sites that support autoplay video.

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There's a lot of reasons to hate autoplay—some of which I explored in an article in April. It's reviled by users for eating up their data plans, and by some advertisers because it's really a meaningless and cheap way to rack up views. But exposing us all, unwillingly, to violence was not a concern that many anticipated.

Autoplay assumes that what you are about to watch, whether you like it or not, will at least not offend you

Autoplay assumes that what you are about to watch, whether you like it or not, will at least not offend you. It's also a way for platforms to woo publishers with the promise of massive view numbers.

In a December 2013 blog post from Facebook's business portal announcing the rollout of autoplay, the company noted a 10 percent uptick in likes and shares on videos that autoplay versus those that don't. Twitter, which implemented autoplay video much more recently, is likely hoping to offer the same incentives to publishers and their advertisers. Both Facebook and Twitter give users the option to turn off autoplay video, but it's enabled by default.

Creators have long been told that their autoplay videos should not offend. In a set of guidelines for video publishers that Facebook posted, the company notes that creators should be aware of the context in which their video will be viewed.

"As a creator," the post states, "you should be conscious that people will discover your video in News Feed next to a photo from a friend or a status update from a relative." Videos of swimming cats, re-packaged with a border of appropriate emojis, usually work best in this context. But not all video uploads are so inoffensive.

Autoplay is for a G-rated world.

Autoplay is not for the world of tragedy.