The Most Annoying Things on the Internet, Part 1

Slide shows: 

I do not understand why this phenomenon seems to be taking over the internet. It seems that every website I go to presents information into a slideshow. As I'm sure you have noticed, slideshows are particularly common when photos are involved, and this is definitely one of the most annoying things on the internet.

For example, I love geeksugar.com, but whenever I want to view the curated collections of products they are so good at putting together, I have to view a slow and cumbersome slideshow.

Whenever I view articles on Mashable like this fun collection of reflection images, I get the warm fuzzies because they provide the option to view the slideshow as one page. It's like they get me! When websites do not give me any options, I am irritated right away.

It's time-consuming and a huge turn off. The worst slideshows by far are those which load a new page with every click and are set up in such a way that you have to scroll down every time to see the full image or text. Some sites offer user friendly slideshows that do not actually load a new page with every click, but rather move seamlessly from image to image (like the Mashable slideshows). Others, while opening a new page with every click, are user friendly enough to auto-scroll down to the photo, requiring less effort. 

Videos

If what you're saying can be described in words rather than in video, please do so.

I don't have any problems with people providing both video and text options. I know some people are very visually oriented and prefer videos. However, when I click through from Twitter or Google, intrigued by the name of an article, it frustrates me to no end when all I get is a video with little or no text. 

When it comes to slideshows, I am willing to put up with them if the content is very attractive. But there is almost no content attractive enough to make me watch a video. Honestly, I will only watch a video one out of a hundred times.
I have seen articles online recommending the use of videos to drive blog traffic. But I have also posted about this pet peeve of mine on Twitter before and I received feedback indicating I'm not alone in my opinions here. Videos are annoying

I acknowledge that for some things, videos work best. But I'd rather have text with pictures in most situations.
Videos seem to be cropping up frequently on news sites, but often there is accompanying text. They also seem to be getting popular for how-to posts, which to me does not make sense. If I am following step-by-step instructions, I don't want to have to pause and scan forwards and backwards within the video as I'm completing the steps. I would rather see a text list where I can scroll up and down at my leisure.

Don't even get me started on videos that start playing as soon as the site is opened (I'm looking at you, Youtube!).
Yet, the absolute worst is when the video starts playing and it's an ad! And then when you pause it, it just starts playing again a minute later! Don't people know that interruptive marketing is going out of style?!

Why do people use these features so often?

I don't know, but maybe you do. Let me know if you guys love slideshows or videos, and why. I'd love for someone to change my mind!

Part 2 now posted!