Facebook suggested comments are pre-populated comments that users may see below some posts in their News Feed. When viewing a post, users may notice a “Suggested Comments” section below the post that contains short phrases or sentences that can be used to quickly react or respond to the post.
Why does Facebook have suggested comments?
Facebook introduced suggested comments in 2020 as a way to streamline engagement on the platform. The goal is to make it easier for users to interact with posts by giving them quick comment options that capture common reactions.
For example, on a photo of a new baby, Facebook may suggest comments like “So cute!” or “What a cutie!” These capture common reactions that people have to baby photos, allowing users to easily tap on a suggested comment to react instead of having to type something from scratch.
Suggested comments are meant to increase engagement on Facebook by lowering the barriers to reacting to posts. The idea is that more users will comment on posts if it simply requires tapping a pre-populated comment versus having to think of something original to say.
How does Facebook generate suggested comments?
Facebook uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to study patterns in comments and generate relevant suggested comments. When a user makes a comment, Facebook records the text and context of the comment. By analyzing millions of comments on posts with similar content, Facebook can learn associations between posts and common reactions/comments.
For example, Facebook may determine that on posts about new homes, common comments include “Congratulations!”, “I’m so jealous!”, and “Welcome home!”. When a user then views a friend’s post about buying a new home, Facebook can pull from that data bank of associated comments to populate the suggested comments.
In addition to analyzing comment patterns across different post types, Facebook also personalizes suggested comments to each user based on their own commenting history and friends list. So the suggested comments you see are tailored based on what types of comments you and your friends tend to leave.
Can you disable suggested comments?
Yes, it is possible to disable suggested comments in your Facebook settings if you do not wish to see them.
On the Facebook website, go to Settings & Privacy -> Settings and scroll down to the “Comments” section. There you will find a setting called “Show Suggested Comments” that you can disable.
On the Facebook mobile app, go to Settings & Privacy -> Settings -> Comments and disable “Show Suggested Comments”.
Once you have disabled the setting, you will no longer see suggested comments appear below posts in your News Feed.
Do suggested comments replace your own comments?
No, tapping on a suggested comment does not prevent you from also typing your own unique comment. Suggested comments are just a shortcut if you want to quickly react to a post with a common phrase. But you can still open the full comment composer and leave whatever comment you want in addition to sending a suggested comment.
Facebook designed suggested comments to enhance engagement, not replace authentic commentary. The idea is to lower the barrier for interacting with posts, but not stop you from leaving meaningful comments of your own.
Are suggested comments anonymous?
No, suggested comments that you send are not anonymous. Any comment left through your account, whether typed manually or selected from suggested comments, will be visible to others as coming from you.
Your name, profile picture, and account are still associated with the comment. Other users will be able to see if you left a suggested comment reacting to a post. It functions the same as if you had manually typed out the exact same text yourself.
Can you edit suggested comments?
Unfortunately, the suggested comments cannot be edited before sending. Facebook’s AI pre-populates the common phrases and sentences that cannot be altered.
However, if you tap a suggested comment and then realize you want to change or expand on it, you can always delete it and write a new unique comment yourself. Suggested comments are meant to be quick short-hand reactions, but you’re welcome to delete them and leave a more thoughtful comment instead.
Do suggested comments improve engagement?
Yes, according to Facebook, suggested comments have increased engagement rates since they were introduced. By providing easy preset reactions for users, more people are motivated to comment who may not have otherwise.
In Q2 2021, Facebook shared some initial data on the impact of suggested comments (known internally as Quick Reactions):
- Comments increased by over 15% after suggested comments were enabled in News Feed
- Over 70% of suggested comment taps were on posts that users did not previously engage with
- Users were 65% less likely to delete their comment if it came from suggested comments compared to their own unique comments
This data indicates that suggested comments are achieving Facebook’s goals – more comments, increased engagement on posts people may have otherwise scrolled past, and lower comment regret/deletion rate.
How are suggested comments used in Facebook Groups?
In January 2022, Facebook expanded suggested comments to Group posts as well. Now when viewing a post in a Group, you may see relevant suggested comments to quickly react to conversations.
For example, on a recipe post in a cooking Group, you may see comments like “Looks delicious!” or “Can’t wait to try this!”. And on a news article post, suggestions could include “Interesting story!” or “Thanks for sharing!”.
The feature provides the same benefits for community engagement in Groups as it does on personal News Feeds – lowering the barrier for reacting to conversations and encouraging more back-and-forth.
Are suggested comments used for advertising?
Facebook has said that suggested comments are based solely on optimizing genuine engagement, not influenced by advertising or business interests. The machine learning model looks at how real users respond to different post types, not commercial intent.
However, advertisers can pay to promote posts, which may indirectly increase the visibility of reactions and comments, including suggested comments. The same would be true for organic viral posts – more reach and visibility leads to more engagement.
But the suggested comment text itself is generated neutrally based on genuine social patterns, not paid promotion.
Can businesses or creators buy suggested comments?
There is no way for businesses, creators, or other accounts to directly pay to influence or purchase suggested comments on their own posts. As mentioned, the suggested comment text is algorithmically generated based on how real users tend to react to certain post types.
However, businesses and creators can indirectly boost engagement on their posts, which may then lead to more suggested comments, by running ads to promote their posts or using other tactics to go viral organically.
But again, they cannot directly customize, purchase, or promote specific suggested comment phrases. Facebook’s stance is that suggested comments must be authentic to how users engage rather than commercially manipulated.
Are suggested comments bad for authentic engagement?
Some argue that suggested comments undermine authentic and meaningful engagement on Facebook. Rather than prompting original reactions, some say they turn commenting into a lazy, thoughtless exercise of simply tapping preset reactions.
However, others counter that suggested comments remove barriers and provide an easy on-ramp to engagement. While they may reduce thoughtfulness at an individual comment level, by making it easier to engage more overall they lead to more vibrant communities and social interaction.
Facebook designed suggested comments to enhance engagement rather than replace it. And research so far indicates the presence of suggested comments increases genuine commenting activity in aggregate, even if specific comments become more simplistic. The overall impact seems net positive for community interaction.
Conclusion
Facebook suggested comments provide quick preset reactions that make it easier for users to engage with posts in their News Feed and in Groups. Powered by AI that analyzes common responses to different post types, suggested comments aim to increase overall interaction rates by lowering the friction to react.
Suggested comments are displayed anonymously like regular comments, can be used in conjunction with unique comments, and research shows they are increasing genuine engagement levels on Facebook. While some criticize them as lazy engagement, on the whole they appear effective at spurring more vibrant online communities.