by Cindy Ratzlaff
Facebook is rolling out the new threaded replies feature today on an opt-in basis. This is a feature brands should find useful for directly responding to comments to create a more personal, meaningful conversation on their business pages. The new feature is called Replies or Reply Links. This feature will allow a page, especially in a very active conversation, to reply right under a particular comment rather than farther down the thread.
Mashable has some good examples with visuals, and here’s a quick screen shot of the message Page admins will receive to turn this function on.
According to TechCrunch a pre-launch memo from Facebook said:
“Facebook replies “may appear differently to each person based on their connections,” Facebook writes. So, for example, if you as a viewer happen to know some of the people in a particular thread, that thread will jump to the top for you, as Facebook assumes you’ll be more likely to want to jump into that conversation. Apart from this, weight is also given to posts that have a lot of likes and a relatively high number of replies. Conversely, threads or comments flagged as spam will drop down the list, and Facebook says it may also “down-rank” comments made by frequent spammers.”
Be on the lookout for your page invitation to turn on replies. Facebook intends to roll this out to every page by July.
To enable the Replies feature on your business page, go to the Admin Panel, click Edit Page, Manage Permission and then Turn On Replies.
I’d love to see how you and your brand are using threaded comment replies on Facebook. You can leave a link here or let me know on Facebook.
I like this idea. I was just thinking today how handy it would be to have nested replies for some threads. Thanks Cindy!
Deb, I’m finding them useful if I use them very sparingly. I have a fan page with more than 74,000 very active fans that averages 35 or more comments on each post. If I respond with the reply button to each one, any friends of theirs who also comment are then nested below that comment. I have to be more careful (read, take more time) to make sure I go back and click through to see those additional comments. Worth the effort but trickier.
Cindy, thanks so much for educating us about this new feature. I’d noticed it, but didn’t really pay it much attention. I will most definitely look at it closer, as it seems to be a useful new tool for making connections and building relationships. Thanks again :)
After using the new nesting replies featuring for a week now, Miriam, I think I’ll use it sparingly. If you reply, which I always recommend, and then someone replies to that reply, all the comments are hidden under a live link that says “3 replies.” So while there is more ability to be personal with a comment, there’s less visibility. More research definitely needed here.
Thanks so much for posting this! I had noticed that some people had that feature, but had no idea how to get it or what it was doing there! This is a huge help. Off to check out our admin pages.
I’ll be interested to hear what you think Wendi. I love the ability to answer someone right away, right under their comment, but I’m worried that Facebook is grouping some our replies and under a “3 replies” live link, for example, that some folks will be overlooked. This is a good thing but will require even more vigilance on the part of page owners.