2025 Social Media Comment Insights Report
Uncovering marketing’s biggest blind spots by moderating over 118 million comments
Get the full 2025 social media comment insights report
A Word from Our CEO
In 2024 we moderated 118.4 million comments on 734,500 posts across the 450+ brands we work with. We hid 1 out of every 6 comments.
At Respondology, we know the comment section is one of the most powerful yet underestimated spaces in digital marketing. It’s where loyalty is built, brands evolve, products are sold, crises are created (and, simultaneously, managed), and viral moments are born. And yet, too often, brands leave the comment sections to chance, leave them out of strategic planning, and forget that revenue opportunities are hidden within them. That’s a mistake.
This report is the first of its kind, and it analyzes Respondology’s first-party comment data from Meta (Facebook & Instagram), TikTok, and YouTube, focusing on comments posted between Jan 1st – Dec 31st, 2024. Our dataset includes 118.4 million comments from 734,500 posts across 450+ brands, highlighting key trends in engagement and moderation impact. We uncover key trends in comment spikes and seasonality, spam sophistication and when it surges, how moderation has a direct positive impact on paid social media performance, how many comments show buying intent (what we like to call Marketing Qualified Comments (MQC)), and how important it is to moderate outside of business hours.
We’re excited to share these insights with you, and even more excited to see how you use them to shape the future of your social media strategies.
Erik Swain
CEO, Co-Founder, Respondology
Peak moderation moments in 2024
If you walk away from this with only one thing, let it be this: when you and your team are supposed to be offline is when the comments go wild, and staffing up isn’t a reliable way to manage the twists and turns of social media. Technology is.
Meet our most moderated categories
Custom Keyphrases were one of the top 3 most moderated categories, proving that conversations need more than black and white moderation. Social comments are complex and having the tools to manage that complexity is the key to success.
Where were you on July 15? Seemed like just another day, until you looked at the comment sections. You never know when the volume is coming.
Monday, July 15 was eventful (see the long list below). But, for social media teams, it started as just another day with zero reason to expect high comment volumes, leaving brands vulnerable.
- Copa America Final featuring Messi sees Argentina win in extra time
- Israel sieges Gaza City
- Two days after Trump assassination attempt
- One day after Euro final
- One day after Wimbledon final
Comment sections go wild on Sundays, but if you’ve got a reliable moderation solution, you don’t have to sweat it.
Sunday
total comments
(379k comments posted on average each Sunday)
total comments hidden
(61k comments hidden on average each Sunday)
Comment toxicity spikes by 10% after 7 pm.
7pm-11pm EST
12pm-2pm EST &
8pm-9pm EST
The most volume and comments hidden
Is that a comment or a dissertation?
If you’ve got high comment volume (or any comment volume for that matter) sitting down and reading 13,000+ characters is time you and your team probably don’t have. Automated moderation is key for catching these rants so they don’t derail your comment sections.
Approved
characters
Rejected
characters
Moderation = Revenue: How it Increases ROAS & Decreases CPC
Any marketer responsible for paid social knows they’re going to be asked: How can we lower our CPC and increase our ROAS? The answer: moderate the comments. Moderation directly contributes to high-performing paid social campaigns. ROAS goes up, CPC goes down, budgets are used more efficiently, marketers pull in more business. Paid social comment sections are a high-risk, high-reward space. Brands that ignore moderation see spam, abuse, toxicity, and brand-damaging comments diminish campaign performance.
Get the full 2025 social media comment insights report
Don’t just post. Protect.
Schedule a demo with us today for immediate comment moderation.