Video is engaging, but video with sound is captivating.

So be careful when you create and design for silence.

Should we publish video on social platforms with or without sound? That was one of the big debates last year, especially with regards to publishing on Facebook and Snapchat.

In a 2016 industry survey, Digiday found that 85 percent of Facebook video is watched without sound:

The news shouldn’t come as much of a surprise, as Facebook has built a video ecosystem that does not require users to turn the volume up — and publishers have been more than happy to play ball. Most users’ news feeds are now inundated with short videos that feature text or captions narrating what’s being shown on screen. While most of these videos feature narration or some form of background music, the intent is to make it easy for people to consume the information presented in the videos without needing to turn the sound on.

As a counter-point, Snapchat’s Imran Khan took a shot at the practice. “‘Basically when you’re buying advertising without sound,’ Khan said, ‘you’re not really buying video, you’re buying moving banner.’” And perhaps he’s right to say so: more than two-thirds of Snapchat videos, according to the platform’s internal metrics, are viewed with the sound on.