As everyone probably already knows, engagement increases Facebook reach, and comments, in particular, can have a big impact. A stimulating discussion will indicate to Facebook’s algorithm that more people should view that post, as they could also join in and share their thoughts on the same thing.
So feedback is important – getting people to talk about your post can play a key role in maximizing reach. And now, Facebook seeks to highlight for some page managers how important that specific commitment can be.
As you can see from these screenshots, shared by social media expert Matt Navarra, Facebook is now seeking to highlight the exact impact that your personal comments on a post may have on subsequent reach and engagement.
As shown in the second image above, when you tap ‘See more information about the impact your comments have had, Facebook will show you a percentage figure related to how many more reactions and impressions your posts have achieved when you’ve added a comment, based in data from the last 28 days. These flags can be shown in personal or page updates.
That could spur many more people and page managers to participate in the comments, with clear data showing exactly what impact it can have.
It’s also an interesting time: Facebook’s second-quarter performance report will take into account the months of April, May, and June, with averages published based on usage statistics for the past 30 days before the time of measurement. That means that if Facebook wants to show a significant increase in, say, engagement, it needs to generate as much activity as possible this month, allowing it to show a significant increase in activity for the period, even though the data is actually just representative of the previous 30 days.
As such, I wouldn’t be surprised if Facebook is looking to report a jump in engagement statistics in the second quarter: If more people see these indications in-stream, then start commenting on each of your posts and responding to each user comment that could lead to much more activity. At the end of the month, maybe those percentage figures you see drop a lot and don’t reflect such a significant jump in user engagement based on your feedback. But by then it won’t matter: Facebook will be able to report the increase and use it to highlight evolving performance.
As such, the inclusion of these indications could mean that Facebook is seeing a decrease in engagement (which is why it wants to endorse it), or is simply looking to generate more to maximize performance. Facebook, of course, doesn’t report engagement statistics as a matter of course, it just provides daily and monthly active user stats. But, every now and then, it posts an update on a specific engagement. I am saying that they will share that data again in July.
That, of course, does not mean that commenting on your posts will not improve engagement. As Facebook data shows, it will, but I would suggest that commenting on each post and replying to each comment won’t necessarily have the same impact over time. You should always seek to respond to relevant comments, and promoting engagement can be a valuable approach. But the impacts of that will fade with time and activity.
But still, it can help you maximize range, and these data points could be valuable. I just don’t know if all social managers who adopt ‘must-have’ comments in every post will have a beneficial impact in the long run.
But as noted, in the long run, it really won’t matter if Facebook is simply looking to show better engagement over a certain period.
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