Ugh! I just came across yet another website that auto-plays a video (an advertisement) with the volume on.
BTW: That’s considered to be “very poor practice” – ie: super, incredibly annoying and really should never be done. I don’t care what that kid who is a superstar on Tik-Tok says… don’t do it.
I’ve also got a live feed of my family’s favorite message app in a tab in another window. So every time one of my family posts something about their latest score on Quordle or takes a picture of their latest culinary creation – the website beeps at me.
Those beeps get awkward when I’m in a Zoom meeting with a client. ME: Ooops! I forgot to close that tab, sorry about that…
QUESTION
What can the average person do to limit this noise pollution?
You could mute your computer, but, that’s overkill and not possible if you are having a video conference or listening to something in the background.
ANSWER
Instead, simply hit the mute button on that website!
This is really easy to do with Google Chrome. Much less effectively done with Microsoft Edge or Firefox.
1) Google Chrome has a selection called “Mute Site” that you can activate on any website. This keeps the site muted whenever you open up that website, today, tomorrow, whenever.
2) Both Microsoft Edge and Firefox instead allow you only to “Mute Tab” in that browser at that time. So, tomorrow when you bring up that website again, you will have to manually mute it again.
I normally use Google Chrome and run my computer with dozens of websites open at one time. So, I don’t want to have to manually mute them each time I open one of them up.
I do have to “un-mute” a website when I want to hear notification alerts or listen to a video. For me that’s best, as it puts me in charge instead of the website.
To activate any of these “mute” features simply move your mouse over the tab that has the website you want to mute. Right-click your mouse to bring up the context sensitive menu. Select “Mute Site” (or “Mute Tab”) and you are done!
