How to Control Comments on Facebook

Wrestling with the comment section on your Facebook Page can feel like a full-time job, distracting you from actually creating content and building your brand. From spam and trolls to off-topic conversations, an unmanaged comment section can quickly derail your efforts. This guide breaks down every tool and tactic Facebook offers to help you control your comments, protect your brand, and foster a positive community.

Why Controlling Your Comments is Non-Negotiable

Before getting into the "how," it's helpful to understand the "why." Comment moderation isn't just about deleting negative remarks, it’s a core part of your social media strategy. A well-managed comment section protects your brand's reputation, builds a stronger community, and can even help your content reach more people.

Here’s what’s at stake:

• Brand Reputation: Your comment section is a public reflection of your brand. If it's filled with spam links, hateful language, or endless arguments, it sends a message that you’re either endorsing that behavior or simply aren't paying attention. A clean, professional space reinforces a positive brand image.
• Community Building: People are more likely to engage when they feel safe and heard. A moderated environment encourages thoughtful conversation and helpful interactions, transforming your page from a broadcast channel into a genuine community hub.
• Audience Protection: In the worst cases, comment sections can become breeding grounds for scams and phishing attempts. Proactive moderation protects your followers from malicious links and bad actors trying to exploit their trust in your brand.
• Algorithmic Signals: Facebook's algorithm prioritizes content that sparks meaningful interactions. While the platform has gotten smarter at differentiating between good and bad engagement, a comment section full of keyword-stuffed spam or low-quality replies doesn't help your cause. Fostering real conversations signals to Facebook that your content is valuable.

Setting Up Your Defenses: Proactive Moderation Tools

The best way to manage your comments is to stop the problematic ones before they ever see the light of day. Facebook’s native tools are surprisingly powerful, allowing you to set up automated rules that act as your 24/7 moderation assistant. Think of this as building a fence to keep most of the troublemakers out entirely.

Mastering Moderation Assist: Your Personal Robot Moderator

Moderation Assist is your first and best line of defense. It automatically hides comments based on criteria you define, saving you countless hours of manual clean-up. You don't have to review these comments, they are simply hidden from public view, while the original poster can still see their own comment (believing it's public).

Here’s how to find and set it up:

1. Navigate to your Professional Dashboard from your Facebook Page.
2. In the left-hand menu, look for "Moderation Assist" under Your Tools.
3. Click "Add" to start creating your filtering criteria.

Here are the most effective criteria to set up:

1. Create a Keyword Block List

This is arguably the most powerful feature within Moderation Assist. You can add a list of words, phrases, and even emojis that will trigger a comment to be automatically hidden. Use this to block:

• Profanity &, Slurs: Add every swear word you can think of, including common misspellings or variations using numbers (e.g., sh1t).
• Spam Phrases: Common spam phrases like "DM me," "check my profile," "free followers," or "make money fast."
• Competitor Names: If you constantly have people promoting competitors in your comments, you can add their brand names to the list.
• Off-Topic Buzzwords: If your page is about baking, and you constantly get unrelated political comments, you can add common political terms to keep the conversation focused.

Pro Tip: Your list can contain up to 10,000 characters. Build it over time. Whenever you manually hide a comment for using a specific term, add that term to your keyword list to automate it in the future.

2. Block Comments with Links

This is a simple but incredibly effective way to eliminate the vast majority of scams and self-promotion. Activate the "Comment has a link" criterion. This prevents anyone from posting a URL in your comments. Worried about blocking a legitimate link? You can always review your hidden comments later and manually approve any that are genuine.

3. Use the Profanity Filter

In addition to your own keyword list, Facebook has a built-in profanity filter. You can find this under Settings &, privacy >,, Settings >,, Public Posts >,, Profanity Filter. You can set this to Off, Medium, or Strong. Turning it to Strong is highly recommended, as it uses Facebook’s massive database of offensive language to catch things you might miss.

4. Set Criteria for User Profiles

Moderation Assist also lets you filter based on the commenter's profile. This is great for catching bots or trolls who use new or fake accounts.

• New Account: Hides comments from people whose Facebook account is less than a week old.
• No Profile Picture: Hides comments from users who don't have a profile picture.
• No Friends or Followers: Filters out comments from accounts that are likely empty shells created just for spamming.

The Hands-On Approach: Manual Comment Control

While automation is great, you can't rely on it completely. Nuanced comments and clever trolls will slip through the cracks. That’s where manual moderation comes in. Taking a few minutes each day to scan your active posts is essential for maintaining a healthy page.

Hiding vs. Deleting Comments: What’s the Difference?

This is one of the most misunderstood and important distinctions in comment moderation. When you spot a comment you don't want, you have two primary options, and they serve very different purposes.

Hiding a Comment

When you hide a comment, it becomes invisible to everyone except the person who posted it and their friends. From their perspective, the comment is still live. This is often called "shadow-banning." Hiding is almost always the better first move for handling criticism, off-topic rants, or general negativity.

Why hide?

• It avoids escalation. The user doesn't get a notification that their comment was removed, so they feel no need to argue back with a "WHY DID YOU DELETE MY COMMENT?!" post.
• It starves trolls. If no one else engages with their negative comment, they don't get the reaction they crave and usually just move on.
• It’s a "soft" removal. It gives you control without appearing to censor your audience.

Deleting a Comment

When you delete a comment, it’s gone for good - for everyone, including the original poster. This is a much more direct action and should be reserved for clear-cut violations of your community guidelines.

When to delete?

• Obvious spam that snuck past your filters.
• Hate speech, harassment, or threats.
• Malicious links or graphic/inappropriate content.

In short: hide what you disagree with, delete what is dangerous or abusive.

Banning Users: When to Draw the Line

Banning is the nuclear option. When you ban someone from your Page, they can no longer like, comment, post to your Page, or send you messages. This is a permanent solution for individuals who repeatedly violate your guidelines, harass others, or consistently post spam. To ban someone, click the three dots (`...`) next to their comment and select "Ban [User Name]." Use this power for repeat offenders - the people who make it clear they have no interest in contributing positively.

Turn Off Comments for a Specific Post

On rare occasions, a post may become so controversial or attract so much off-topic negativity that moderation becomes impossible. In these situations, you can turn off comments for that specific post. To do this, click the three dots (`...`) at the top right of your post and select "Who can comment on this post?" You can then change it from "Public" to "Profiles and Pages you follow" or even "Only Pages You Mention," which effectively closes comments to the general public.

Beyond the Basics: Strategies for a Healthy Comment Section

Tools are only one piece of the puzzle. An effective moderation strategy also involves nurturing the kind of community you want to see.

Develop and Post Community Guidelines

Create a simple set of rules for your comment section. Keep it short and friendly. For example: "We welcome discussion! To keep this a positive space for everyone, we remove comments that contain spam, profanity, personal attacks, or misinformation." You can pin a post with these guidelines to your Page or include them in your "About" section. This gives you a public policy to point to and adds legitimacy to your moderation actions.

Lead by Example and Engage Positively

The best way to encourage good comments is to reward them. Liking and responding to positive engagement signals to both your audience and the algorithm that these are the types of conversations you value. This simple act encourages more of the same and makes your followers feel seen and appreciated.

Address Legitimate Criticism Gracefully

Not all negative feedback comes from trolls. Sometimes, customers have genuine problems or valid criticisms. Hiding or deleting these types of comments can backfire and make you look like you have something to hide. A good approach for handling these is:

1. Acknowledge the problem publicly in a reply.
2. Apologize if your brand was at fault.
3. Take it Offline. Ask them to send you a DM with their details so you can resolve the issue privately.

This shows other followers that you take feedback seriously without starting a lengthy public argument.

Final Thoughts

Gaining control over your Facebook comments is about using a smart mix of proactive automation and mindful manual moderation. By setting up strong filters with Moderation Assist and understanding when to hide, delete, or engage, you can protect your brand and create a community where positive, productive conversations can flourish.

We know managing comments isn't just a Facebook problem, it's a constant task across Instagram, TikTok, and all your other social channels. That’s why we built our Engagement feature in Postbase with a unified inbox. It brings all your comments and DMs into one simple feed, so you can stop jumping between apps and stay on top of your community without missing a beat.

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