In Spotler Engage, you can monitor Facebook comments from public pages in Media Monitor by adding those pages as sources. This allows you to analyse conversations that match your monitoring queries, even when your organisation is not explicitly mentioned in the post or comment.
Public discussions on Facebook often take place in the comment sections of news pages, regional pages, or other public pages. By indexing these comments, Spotler Engage provides a more complete view of public opinion, reputation signals, and potential crisis developments.
On this page you can read about the following topics:
- Where can I see public Facebook comments?
- Possibilities in Webcare
- Limitations
- Excluding comments from streams
- FAQs
Where can I see public Facebook comments?
Public Facebook comments from added sources are primarily intended for analysis in Media Monitor.
These comments:
- Match your configured monitoring queries and keywords
- Are retrieved from public Facebook pages that are added as sources
- Can be analysed for volume, trends, sentiment, and content patterns
A standard set of approximately 25 public Facebook pages is included by default. You can add additional public pages as sources within the applicable limits.
This enables you to detect conversations under public posts, including:
- Discussions under news articles
- Regional or government communication
- Industry or brand-related posts where your organisation is discussed without being tagged
Possibilities in Webcare
Important
Public Facebook comments retrieved from added sources are available for analysis only. Interaction such as replying or liking is not supported in Webcare.
These comments may be visible in Webcare for context. However:
- You cannot reply to these comments from within the software
- You cannot like these comments from within the software
- You cannot moderate these comments from within the software
If you want to interact with a comment, you must open the original post directly on Facebook and perform the interaction there.
If you are using a monitoring stream with specific keywords and public sources enabled, matching comments will appear in that stream. These are intended for monitoring and analysis, not for engagement handling.
Limitations
Facebook applies technical restrictions to public data retrieved in this way. As a result, certain behaviour may look different from comments on connected or owned pages. These are expected limitations.
- No direct comment links. Facebook does not provide stable direct links for these comments. The link in Spotler Engage points to the original post, not to the individual comment.
- No official Facebook comment IDs. Facebook does not provide usable identifiers for this data. Spotler Engage generates internal identifiers so comments can be stored and analysed. These cannot be used for Facebook actions.
- Possible duplicate comments. Duplicate entries can occur in certain situations, for example when the same public content is retrieved using different access tokens within the same environment.
- Slight differences in comment counts. Small discrepancies may occur due to edited comments, multiple users posting the same comment at the same second, or missing identifiers that prevent exact matching. These differences are typically minor and do not affect overall trend analysis.
These comments are designed to support:
- Media monitoring
- Volume analysis
- Trend detection
- Sentiment and content analysis
They are not intended for direct engagement or moderation within the software.
Excluding comments from streams
If you prefer not to include these Facebook comments in a specific stream, you can apply the following filter:
NOT user:"Facebook user"
This filter excludes Facebook comments retrieved from public sources.
Be aware that this will also exclude anonymous Facebook page mentions. If you want to re-include anonymous page mentions while excluding comments, use:
((NOT user:"Facebook user") OR (posttype:mention))
FAQs
Can I reply to these Facebook comments from Spotler Engage?
No. Public Facebook comments retrieved from added sources are available for monitoring and analysis only. To reply or like, open the original post on Facebook.
Why do I see comments even when my organisation is not mentioned?
Comments are retrieved when they match your configured monitoring queries and keywords. This includes discussions under public posts where your organisation is discussed without being tagged.
Why do comment numbers sometimes differ from Facebook?
Facebook does not provide stable identifiers for this type of public data. Spotler Engage generates internal identifiers to store comments for analysis, which can result in small discrepancies or occasional duplicates.
When should I contact Support?
Contact Support if no comments appear for a public Facebook source that should contain relevant data, or if comments are missing for an extended period. Limitations related to disabled interaction, duplicate comments, or minor differences in volume are expected behaviour.