If you’ve recently noticed that the comments section is missing from your Facebook posts, you’re not alone. Over the past few months, Facebook has been testing removing comments from pages and groups in an effort to improve conversations on the platform. This means that some users are no longer able to view or leave comments on certain posts.
Why did Facebook remove comments?
Facebook has stated that the goal of this test is to “balance meaningful engagement with preventing bad experiences like spammy comments.” Essentially, they want to cut down on negative and irrelevant comments to create a more positive user experience.
Some of the specific issues Facebook is trying to address include:
– Trolling and harassment – Comments often facilitate bullying and abusive language from trolls.
– Spam – Spammers frequently try to direct people to malicious sites through comments.
– Irrelevant comments – Comments are often off-topic or not meaningful to the conversation.
By removing comments in some cases, Facebook hopes to limit these troublesome behaviors and encourage more thoughtful discussion.
How does Facebook decide which posts to remove comments from?
According to Facebook, comments are being removed on posts “where engagement is particularly low.” This suggests that posts with few likes, shares, and existing comments are more likely to lose the ability to comment.
Pages and groups that tend to have more negative commenting behaviors may also see comments disabled more frequently. For example, public figures and businesses that attract a lot of unconstructive feedback in comments could see them turned off.
Facebook has not provided a full explanation of how it chooses which posts to apply this test to. It seems to be evaluating many signals about each post and audience to predict whether removing comments will have a positive or negative effect.
Which Facebook posts still have comments enabled?
While some users have lost the ability to comment on many posts in their feeds, comments do still appear to be enabled on some types of content. Here are some examples of posts that seem to still allow commenting for most users:
– Friends’ posts – Personal updates and posts from friends seem to retain comments in most cases.
– Popular brand pages – Highly followed brand pages like Samsung Mobile still have active comment sections.
– Group posts – Comments remain available on posts within private groups and communities.
– Verified accounts – Public figure accounts with a blue verification badge still tend to show comments.
– Live videos – Facebook Live broadcasts continue to display the comments sidebar.
– Recent posts – Newly published posts are more likely to have working comments.
Essentially, comments seem to still be present on more personal, real-time, highly interactive types of content. Facebook likely sees these types of engaging posts as less susceptible to toxic commenting behaviors.
How long will comments be disabled?
There is no official end date for this Facebook comments test. Facebook has indicated it is a temporary experiment, but has not provided details on how long it will run.
Previous Facebook tests have lasted anywhere from a few weeks to a few months. For example, a test the company ran last year for hiding like counts lasted around 6 weeks.
It’s likely that Facebook is using data and feedback from this comments test to evaluate whether it has a positive impact. If the change does curb harassment and improve conversations, Facebook may decide to make comment removal permanent on certain types of posts.
For now, expect unpredictable comment availability as Facebook continues to toggle settings behind the scenes. Comments could disappear and reappear on your posts at any time during this test.
Which Facebook groups and pages are affected?
From user reports, it appears that comments have been disappearing from posts across many different types of Facebook pages and groups, including:
– News and media pages – e.g. CNN, Fox News
– Brand and product pages – e.g. Samsung Mobile, Adidas
– Public figure pages – e.g. athletes, actors, musicians
– Meme pages – e.g. popular meme sharing accounts
– Political organization pages – e.g. political parties, advocacy groups
– Community, lifestyle and identity pages – e.g. parenting groups, regional groups
– General interest groups – e.g. hobbies, entertainment fandoms
Comments seem to have vanished from posts across this wide spectrum of public pages and communities. Even the Facebook App Page currently shows zero comments on its posts.
One type of group that still seems to consistently have active comments is private and secret groups that require approval to join. Smaller niche interest groups also appear less likely to have comments turned off.
But most larger public pages have had comments disappear, often erratically. For example, 3 posts in a row might show comments, then the next 5 have none. This sporadic availability suggests Facebook’s algorithm is randomly selecting posts to disable commenting on for testing purposes.
Why do some posts still show comment counts if you can’t comment?
One confusing aspect of this test is that some posts appear to display comment counts, implying that comments exist, but then show zero comments when you try to view them.
This seems to occur because Facebook is testing removing the ability to add new comments, but existing comments on posts remain visible to those who made them.
So the comment count reflects past feedback on the post, but new comments are disabled. This frustrates users who think they should be able to see the comments indicated by the comment count shown.
Hopefully Facebook will update the UI to more clearly indicate when new comments cannot be added on posts as part of this test. An “comments closed” message or greyed out comment count could help avoid confusion.
How to find posts you can still comment on
Since comment availability is so unpredictable now on Facebook, here are some tips for finding posts you can still comment on:
– Check friends’ posts – Personal posts from friends are more likely to allow comments.
– Look for posts with recent comments – If you see others’ recent comments it means adding new ones probably works.
– Try commenting on any post – You’ll have to attempt posting on each one to see if it works.
– Visit private groups – Group members are often still able to comment on posts within private groups.
– Check the Page’s other posts – Commenting may be disabled on some of a Page’s posts but not others.
– Look for Live videos – Comments tend to be available on Facebook Live broadcasts.
– Switch to newest posts – Newly published posts seem less likely to have disabled comments.
Essentially, you’ll have to dig through posts and keep trying to comment to determine where it’s allowed. Frustratingly, there’s no universally reliable way to find commentable posts during this test.
Why you may want to pause commenting
Although the lack of commenting ability is disruptive, having a break from posting comments yourself can have some benefits:
– Avoid internet arguments – Stepping back from comments means you’re less likely to get drawn into inflammatory debates.
– Improve mental health – Not reacting to provocative posts can be good for your peace of mind.
– Be more productive – You can spend less time commenting and more time on other priorities.
– Break social media habits – It provides an opportunity to rethink your social media commenting routines.
– Speak directly to friends – You can have deeper conversations with friends directly over chat or in person instead.
While completely eliminating comments long term would certainly be controversial, a short-term break can be a refreshing change of pace for some.
How to provide feedback to Facebook
If you have strong feelings about Facebook removing the ability to comment, here are some ways to share feedback directly with the company:
– Post in Facebook Groups – Comment on posts in groups like Facebook Community Support where employees are active.
– Contact Facebook Support – Reach out via live chat in the Facebook app or tweet @Facebook.
– Submit feedback through prompts – Keep an eye out for any in-app prompts asking for feedback on the missing comments.
– Rate the Facebook app – Leave feedback and ratings via the Google Play Store or Apple App Store.
– Take Facebook surveys – Provide comments if you receive any emails inviting you to take a Facebook survey.
– Reach out to Facebook partners – Try contacting Facebook’s advertising partners or influencers who may be able to escalate feedback.
– Tweet at executives – Politely tweet concerns and suggestions to Facebook execs like Mark Zuckerberg, Sheryl Sandberg, and Adam Mosseri.
– Email investor relations – Share concerns as a Facebook shareholder by emailing [email protected].
The more actionable feedback Facebook receives, the more insights they’ll gain to understand users’ perspective on this divisive test.
Pros of disabling comments for Facebook
While many users are frustrated by losing commenting abilities, here are some potential advantages for Facebook behind this move:
– Improves user experience – Limits spam, harassment, and irrelevant content that degrades the user experience.
– Drives engagement to other features – Redirects engagement to Reactions, Shares, Groups which may support more meaningful interactions.
– Reduces community management workload – Lessens the need for as much content moderation to monitor comments.
– Avoids PR crises – Limits controversies related to high profile offensive or dangerous comments that reflect poorly on the brand.
– Matches user behavior shift – Aligns with an existing trend of declining commenting rates as users shift to other features.
– Encourages business objectives – Incentivizes users and pages to share more content and ads which serve Facebook’s business model.
While ditching comments completely could backfire, Facebook may decide the pros outweigh the cons and make this change permanent if overall engagement on the platform improves.
Cons of removing comments for Facebook
Despite some benefits, Facebook risks angering users and hurting its platform in the long run by disabling comments. Here are some of the potential drawbacks:
– Damages user trust – Users feel their voices are being silenced and engagement manipulated.
– Reduces organic reach – Limits viral sharing powered by lively user discussions in comments.
– Hurts influencer engagement – Removes a key tool creators and influencers use to engage their audiences.
– Misses nuanced sentiment – Removes a direct source of unfiltered, qualitative user feedback and insights.
– Breaks user habits and loyalty – Disrupts loyal users’ daily routines and emotional attachment to commenting.
– Pushes users to competitors – Taking away beloved features may motivate users to spend more time on sites like Instagram, TikTok, Twitter.
– Perceived as anti-free speech – Raises concerns around censorship and limiting freedom of expression.
– Loses metaverse momentum – Contradicts Facebook’s metaverse vision of more, not less, direct user-to-user interaction.
If Facebook is not careful, this test could damage communities, crater engagement, and ultimately accelerate the decline of the platform. Users do not take kindly to beloved features being stripped away.
Will Facebook bring back comments?
It’s too early to know for sure if or when full commenting abilities will be restored across Facebook. Here are the possible scenarios:
1. Temporary test – Comments return widely after a few weeks/months of testing.
2. Partial restoration – Comments only reenabled on certain post types based on test results.
3. Permanent removal – Comments stay disabled across much of Facebook moving forward.
4. Feature evolution – Comments get replaced by a new, more engaging discussion feature.
The most likely scenario is that comments will be restored at least partially after a temporary test period. There would likely be too much public backlash from permanently eliminating comments at this stage.
But Facebook may decide only to return commenting on certain types of posts where engagement was highest and abuse lowest during the test. For example, comments could be enabled again for friends’ posts but remain disabled on public Pages.
We’ll have to wait and see how user feedback and Facebook’s internal data shape the end results of this divisive test. Stay tuned for further developments.
Alternatives for commenting on Facebook
In the meantime, here are some alternatives for expressing your reactions and having conversations if you can no longer comment on Facebook posts:
– Post your own thoughts – Create your own posts to spark discussions through likes, shares and replies.
– React with emojis – Tap the Like, Love, and other emoji icons to share quick feedback.
– Send DMs – Message friends directly to have private conversations off of posts.
– Create a Group – Start or join a private group to discuss specific topics in a community.
– Use Facebook Messenger – Chat with friends in real time via Facebook’s messaging app.
– Comment on other platforms – Leave comments on the same content if posted on Instagram, YouTube, Twitter, etc.
– Join Facebook FB Groups – Interact in niche interest groups like sports, hobbies, politics, etc.
– Contact page owners – Email or DM a page/profile directly if you want to reach them specifically.
– Share content – Repost interesting posts to your own profile or in Groups to keep the conversation flowing.
– Switch to live video – Interact via comments on Facebook Live rather than pre-recorded posts.
– Use Facebook Events – RSVP and comment on Facebook Events related to the post topic.
While not as convenient, utilizing other forms of interaction can fill the commenting void as you wait for the feature’s potential return.
Conclusion
Facebook’s test of removing comments has certainly sparked heated debate and raised many questions. While their motivations relate to improving discourse on the platform, the loss of expression and connection from comments has angered many loyal users.
For now, we’ll have to adapt our behaviors and take advantage of alternatives like Groups and Reactions. But hopefully the feedback provided prompts Facebook to restore commenting capabilities in some form very soon, even if comments don’t return universally.
Stay tuned for further developments, and feel free to reach out if you have any other questions as Facebook continues to evolve!