Facebook Chirps Now When You Scroll. I'd Like It to Stop. Please, God, Make It Stop

Social media apps are always updating their suites of features in an attempt to prove to users that they are worth their time. Some of those features work perfectly, and offer users new ways to get engaged, while others flame out and actually lead to backlash.

Recently, Facebook updated its app so that users would hear a chirping sound as they scroll through their feeds. Now, many want to understand why the app is suddenly so noisy, and how they can make it stop if they want to.

Facebook's new sounds are part of a recent update introduced by Meta, Facebook's parent company, with the goal of making the app more interactive. While these features may do exactly that for some users, not everyone actually wants to hear constant sounds while they are scrolling through social media. The feature is likely a response to apps like TikTok, which regularly engage users both visually and audibly.

If you're one of the people who prefers things quiet on your phone, there's a fairly easy way to turn the sound setting off for Facebook.

1. Click on the bottom right icon on your app that should open your menu.
2. Click Settings under the heading Settings & Privacy.
3. Under Preferences, click on Media and then Sounds.
4. After that, click the toggle to turn off In-App Sounds.

This shouldn't impact your video, but it should keep the app from making any other noises.

Although that is supposed to turn the sounds off, some users have been reporting a glitch that causes the sounds to turn back on by themselves. These users have even tried reinstalling the app or turning their phones off and on, but nothing seems to be keeping the noise from coming. You could always try turning your phone on silent, but that's not always a practical solution.

Given how many people seemed to discover the new noises that their app were making and immediately look for a way to turn them off, it seems possible that Facebook will ultimately rescind the new feature at some point.

It's not totally clear what research or testing led them to believe that these sounds enhanced their users' experience, but it's clear based on feedback from actual users that they don't like the feature.

Social media companies release features that are unpopular or just unused all the time, but it's rare to see one that seems to be this universally despised. Thankfully, these features don't have to be permanent.

The next time Meta rolls out a new update for Facebook, don't be shocked if these sounds just quietly disappear. Most people won't even notice, given that they will have already gone into their settings and turned them off. If they can fix the glitch, Meta's decision to remove the sounds will make it seem like they never even happened at all.