Yes, as a Facebook business page admin, you can moderate comments on your Facebook business page. Facebook provides page admins with a variety of tools and settings to manage comments on their pages.
Why moderate comments on your Facebook business page?
There are several reasons why moderating comments on your Facebook business page is important:
- Keep conversations relevant – Moderating comments helps ensure discussions stay on topic and relevant to your business.
- Maintain a positive environment – You can remove abusive, offensive or inappropriate comments to maintain a positive atmosphere.
- Manage spam – Filtering out spammy comments helps keep your page professional.
- Comply with regulations – You may need to remove comments that don’t follow laws or regulations.
- Protect your brand – Deleting critical or inaccurate comments protects your brand reputation.
How to moderate comments as a page admin
As a Facebook page admin, you have full control over moderating comments. Here are the main ways you can manage comments:
Manually hide or delete comments
You can manually hide or delete individual comments on your posts as needed. Just hover over a comment and click the options that appear. Hiding removes it from public view while deleting removes it completely.
Ban or restrict commenters
If someone repeatedly leaves inappropriate comments, you can ban them from commenting or restrict their ability to comment. Go to your page, click Settings > People and Other Pages > Banned and Restricted Users and manage commenters.
Set up comment moderation filters
Facebook allows you to create filters that automatically hide comments containing certain words, phrases or links. Go to Settings > Community Management > Comment Moderation and set up filters.
Switch on post review
You can require all comments on your page’s posts to be reviewed before anyone else sees them. Enable this under Settings > Community Management > Post Review.
Assign moderators
Designate other admins or editors on your page as comment moderators to help filter comments. They will have access to comment moderation tools.
Moderate comments via page inbox
Facebook routes comment reports and notifications to your page inbox. You can review flagged comments and take action on them from there.
Use Facebook’s default comment settings
Take advantage of Facebook’s default automatic comment moderation. It detects potential spam, offensive language, bullying, etc. and hides these comments.
Best practices for Facebook comment moderation
Here are some best practices to make moderating Facebook comments easier and more effective:
- Act quickly – Check and manage comments regularly so issues don’t escalate.
- Don’t over-moderate – Allow constructive criticism but remove clearly inappropriate content.
- Inform fans of your policies – Communicate comment guidelines on your page so expectations are set.
- Use moderation filters judiciously – Set filters around offensive keywords but avoid overly restricting discussions.
- Designate other moderators – Divide the workload if your page receives a high volume of comments.
- Respond thoughtfully – If deleting a comment, consider replying explaining why or apologizing.
- Review default settings – Evaluate if Facebook’s default comment controls suit your needs or if you need stricter policies.
Moderation settings and tools
Facebook provides page admins several ways to manage comments right from their page. Here are some of the key settings and tools available:
| Setting/Tool | Description |
|---|---|
| Manual Review | Ability to hide, feature or delete individual comments. |
| Banned Users | Prevent specific users from commenting or interacting with your page. |
| Restricted Users | Limit commenting ability for troublesome users. |
| Comment Moderation | Create filters to automatically hide comments with certain words, phrases or links. |
| Post Review | Require all comments be reviewed before appearing publicly. |
| Page Inbox | Review and handle comment reports and notifications. |
| Default Settings | Leverage Facebook’s built-in automatic moderation tools. |
Establishing clear comment policies
It’s recommended to establish clear comment policies and guidelines on your Facebook page so fans understand what is and isn’t allowed. You can include your comment policies:
- In your page’s About section
- In a pinned post on your page
- Within your page’s Community Standards
- In a website linked from your page
Tips for creating effective Facebook comment policies:
- Keep policies concise and easy to understand
- Stick to language acceptable for all audiences
- Align with Facebook’s Community Standards
- Specify the types of comments you may hide or delete
- Note that comment guidelines are subject to updates
Comment moderation tools for large pages
Very large Facebook pages with millions of followers have access to additional comment moderation capabilities:
Facebook Protect
Facebook Protect provides extra security including expanding banned user lists and restricting commenting access. Activate via Settings > Security > Facebook Protect.
Moderator Assist Tool
This AI-powered tool helps review high-risk comments at scale. Human moderators can train it on moderation best practices.
Automated comment review
Pages with over 250k followers can enable automated pre-review of all public comments using machine learning and natural language processing.
Private replies
Large pages can hide comment reply chains between users to simplify comment feeds.
Third-party Facebook comment moderation tools
In addition to Facebook’s built-in options, third-party tools are available to further expand and automate Facebook page comment moderation. Popular options include:
- Social Report – Helps filter and bulk moderate Facebook comments. Offers sentiment analysis to detect positive/negative comments.
- Reply – Provides AI moderation to analyze Facebook comments at scale and auto-hide inappropriate ones.
- Sprout Social – Social media management platform that lets you moderate comments across channels.
- Hootsuite – Social media dashboard with custom filters to bulk moderate Facebook comments.
- Sprinklr – Robust social suite with Facebook comment management and auto-moderation tools.
Frequently asked questions
What are some common comment moderation mistakes to avoid?
Some common Facebook comment moderation mistakes include:
- Being too restrictive and stifling constructive discussions
- Not acting quickly enough on problematic comments
- Failing to communicate commenting policies clearly
- Neglecting to assign co-moderators on high-volume pages
- Deleting comments without explaining reasons
Can I block a user from commenting without banning them fully?
Yes, with the Restricted Users setting you can limit a user’s ability to comment without fully banning them from your page.
What happens when I ban someone from my Facebook page?
Banning a user prevents them from commenting on your page or interacting with any of your content. They won’t be notified of the ban.
How often should I check comments on my business page?
It’s a good idea to check your Facebook page comments at least once a day. For very active pages, assigning moderators to check comments multiple times per day is recommended.
Conclusion
Moderating comments is an essential part of managing a professional Facebook business page. Taking advantage of all the settings and tools Facebook provides, establishing clear commenting policies, acting quickly on issues, and potentially using third-party moderation tools allows page admins to cultivate positive discussions and protect their brand reputations.