If any of you have found yourself using the Facebook mobile app this week and noticed it seeming to “chirp” at you — multiple times, and incessantly — you’re not alone. I thought at first that someone at Facebook HQ seemingly decided this was a good idea, presumably to make it sound like the app was a bit more alive and active than normal. On Tuesday, though, Meta spokesman Andy Stone confirmed that the annoying chirping sound you’re hearing is a bug and is not meant to be there as you’re scrolling around the app.
Stone also says a fix is coming — though I expect many of you, or at least those of you still on Facebook, will greet this news the same way I did: With an urge to make it stop right now.
Fortunately, that’s super easy to do without needing to wait on a fix from Facebook:
- First, open the Menu by tapping the button at the bottom right of the Facebook app
- Then, look for Settings & privacy (you might have to scroll down just a bit). Tap it to open a drop-down menu, and then tap Settings.
- Scroll down until you see the Media button under the Preferences menu, and tap that.
- Under Sounds, make sure the In-App Sound toggle is switched off.
And that’s it. While we’re on the topic, by the way, one additional note is also worth pointing out: That chirp is not the only annoying change to the Facebook app I’ve noticed lately. There’s at least one other change that’s caught my eye and which is very much not a bug — and presumably meant to juice engagement.
You may or may not have noticed, but when you’re scrolling through your Stories at the top of the mobile app, you can now see tons more people in your Stories carousel who you don’t follow that you’re encouraged to follow. Maybe it’s just me, but features and prompts like are just massively annoying — because, think about it:
The Stories carousel is there so you can see content that you’ve chosen to follow, whether from people you know or brands. What Facebook Stories is now doing (I first noticed this a few months ago) feels a little like: Suppose you’re at a restaurant, hanging out with friends, and the restaurant has assembled a large group of people it thinks you might enjoy also hanging out with. And it lines them up, single file, right beside your table. No thanks, right?
Facebook, I understand the need for growth hacks, but there’s a difference between such efforts and annoying desperation, which is what these kinds of things come off as.