As Facebook continues its effort to win over more creators, they have recently announced a new set of comment moderation and support tools to help creators maximise their use of the platform and create a more positive environment. These changes will allow creators to manage post comments and community engagement, while eliminating spam. But perhaps most notably, Facebook has begun testing a new live troubleshooting chat option that will be available for all users who are locked out of their account.
The main change for creators is a new, simplified option to hide comments. To clarify, Business pages have been able to hide comments before now, but Creator pages have not. When you hide a comment, it’s only visible to the commentor and their connections, however Page admins can view all hidden comments on a given post by selecting ‘Hidden by This Page’ in the comments drop-down.
With the hide action now available next to each comment, you can quickly hide comments with one click and easily view all hidden comments in a single place by changing the comment filter view on your posts. For keyword blocking, you can now automatically hide comments with variations of words that use numbers, symbols, or different spellings.
Facebook is also testing a new Moderation Assist for groups, which automatically moderates comments on your posts based on your criteria and terms (i.e. no comments with links/images, in addition to keywords).
Additionally, for creators that use Facebook Live to broadcast to their audience, Facebook is investing in additional comment moderation tools including profanity keyword blocking tools, suspending/banning controls and stronger comment controls. They will soon be testing a feature for Facebook Live community moderation allowing creators to designate a specific viewer to moderate comments on their behalf.
In addition to providing creators with these new tools, Facebook is also increasing its troubleshooting support. They have begun a test to provide support through live chat for English-speaking creators in the United States who do not already have an assigned relationship manager from Meta to help with questions they might have about Facebook or Instagram.
Creators can access a dedicated creator support site when logged in through Facebook. There, they can chat live with a support agent for help on a variety of issues ranging from status of a pay-out to questions about new features like Reels. As Facebook expands this effort, creators will receive an invitation on Facebook or Instagram to join the test and explore the new support experience.
So Creators may be receiving this dedicated support, but what will be available for regular users?
On the Facebook App specifically, Facebook has begun testing live chat help for some English-speaking users globally who’ve been locked out of their accounts. This first test focuses on those who cannot access their accounts due to unusual activity or whose accounts have been suspended due to a violation of Facebook’s Community Standards. This move will surely come as a relief to many users, as it will be the first time Facebook has offered live help for people locked out of their accounts.It is likely these changes are an effort to encourage Creators to post to Facebook and Instagram more over the holiday period and beyond. This push continues the effort to win back young users, mostly from TikTok, and if it can build a more positive environment for creators it may encourage them to bring their audiences across to Facebook instead.