Facebook announced plans to incorporate a “reply” option which will allow users to comment directly on wall posts. This came into action in recent days. In addition to this new option to reply to specific comments, the entire thread will be sorted by an algorithm to put the most engaging comments higher.
It allows users who cannot tag and mention other fans they aren’t friends with, where there can be dozens or even thousands of comments have easy to follow conversations.
What’s the benefit for businesses?
It’s very possible that pages may see increased engagement on posts since high-quality comments will be surfaced up top and users will be notified when someone replies to their comment. Furthermore, when replying to a comment, users will be able to ‘Like’ your ‘Reply’, and you’ll get a notification when they do so. Facebook will also rank conversation threads based on what’s relevant to individual users by configuring the total number of likes, replies and spam reports a thread receives.
“The most active and engaging conversations among your readers will be surfaced at the top of your posts ensuring that people who visit your Page will see the best conversations.” Vadim Lavrusik, Journalism Program Manager for Facebook, said on the Facebook+Journalists blog.
Facebook introduced the feature after months of testing, I first read about these proposed changes back in November 2012. Facebook said the new feature can improve conversations and be used to start open dialogues with the community.
When I logged into a Page which I am admin of, Facebook prompted me to turn these new features on. Here is the screen shot:
Do you think that this will help increase user’s engagement with brands on Facebook?
Aoife Rigney - Digital Marketing & Social Media 