Here's Why You Might Want to Turn Off the Volume If You're Hopping on to Facebook at Work

(Image: LIONEL BONAVENTURE/AFP/Getty Images)

You might have a cubicle nestled far in the office corner or perhaps even your own office room, but if you're going to sneak on to Facebook during work hours -- or even if you're going to take a peak at your newsfeed while in public in general -- it might behoove you in the future to turn your volume off.

The social media site is reportedly going to begin running autoplay video ads come spring. You know the ones that start up blaring catchy marketing without you pushing play. The ones that might not even have a working pause button. The ones that reveal to everyone around you that you're on a site that might not be related to your job.

As the Atlantic Wire's Rebecca Greenfield points out, you might be familiar with these "horrible" ads if you're a frequenter of ESPN.com, but many other sites run them as well.

According to Ad Age (via CNET), Facebook hopes the autoplay ads will draw attention of those looking at their Facebook timelines. But the potential for unwanted noise pollution is not a done deal yet. Ad Age reported that executives are still debating if the audio portion will already start up. Some autoplay ads, like those occasionally on YouTube, might start playing the visual action, but not the audio unless you enable it.