Been on Facebook today? You may have seen some annoying video ads slowing down your news feed.

The feature offers companies a new way to promote movies and products on smartphones and computers, and is being tested with a small group of Facebook users.

"Rather than having to click or tap to play, videos will begin to play as they appear onscreen -- without sound," Facebook said in a statement. When users tap the videos, the sound will turn on and the video will play in full-screen mode.

Analysts estimate Facebook could gain as much as $8.4 billion per year in revenue once the program is fully rolled out.

But don't expect a flood of video to start clogging up your online experience just yet...The company says only a few Facebook users will see video ads this week. It's testing the feature with one company, Summit Entertainment, which is promoting its new movie Divergent, starring Kate Winslet.

Facebook has been working to improve the video experience for users since September. It says users view, like, share and comment on content more often if videos begin playing automatically.

For users who don't want to see the videos, Facebook suggests quickly scrolling past them.


Facebook also says the new ads will not eat into mobile data plans, explaining that videos will only download when devices are connected to WiFi.

Source: CNN

A lesson in social media marketing, courtesy of Amazon's latest failure.

What's the first lesson of social media? Know what you're posting!

Amazon Student recently found themselves in a situation where a post about "manscaping" was created to promote a new grooming store. Probably unknown to Amazon at the time of the posting, the word manscape is defined as: "A term used to define male grooming below the belt". However, in the following 6 hours, nearly 70 people commented with a snarky response. (Some of which are below).

So, what's the lesson to be learned here? Be sure the person in charge of your social media is up to date with the latest slang of your target audience.