Comments

Instagram groups a response directly beneath the original comment when someone taps Reply, helping participants follow a particular conversation1. Creators can use these conversations to collect questions: in May 2025, Mosseri invited people to leave questions that he could answer in future videos9. To revisit posts you have commented on, open your profile, tap the top-right menu and select Your Activity, which records those interactions10. During a broadcast in Live Producer, the Comments tab lets you read and respond to viewers; clicking a comment opens options to report it or pin it at the top, and the X beside a pinned comment removes the pin2.

Instagram’s comment-ordering system considers details about the conversation itself, including the post’s likes and each comment’s likes and replies3. Meta’s Transparency Center also lists a viewer’s previous comments on that author’s posts, past interactions with comments, frequency of liking comments, word counts of comments they have liked and usual time spent viewing comments3. Mosseri has described choosing which comments appear near the top as one way to reduce exposure to bullying and harassment, rather than relying only on removing rule-breaking material11. Clarifying his May advice in June 2024, he said waiting roughly an hour before engaging was useful only when comments were heated and someone wanted a more pleasant experience, because Instagram then had more comments to order and more opportunity to move aggressive but permitted comments lower1213. A Meta patent describes ordering comments using feedback given different importance according to who supplied it, but does not establish that Instagram uses that method14. Another Meta patent describes scoring and filtering comments using their authors, content and audience interactions, rather than documenting Instagram’s current implementation15.

Instagram uses predictions about whether a viewer will comment, like or save a post when deciding its position in Feed4. In Explore, Instagram uses previously commented-on posts to help find recommendations from accounts the viewer does not follow, although its listed most important predicted actions there are likes, saves and shares6. Instagram for Creators also lists comments alongside watch time, how long viewers keep watching, shares and likes as information used to predict which reels someone might enjoy7. In November 2025, Mosseri recommended replying to people and liking their comments to help a post reach farther, saying this would help more than reposting one’s own post, which would not meaningfully change reach16. A Meta patent about news-feed ordering illustrates why commenting need not indicate approval: it describes a negative comment as possible evidence that someone dislikes a story, without establishing how Instagram currently interprets such comments17.

Instagram’s comment controls include filtering based on keywords, allowing people to screen out unwanted language18. For multiple unwanted interactions, Mosseri describes tools to delete several comments and block several accounts at once19. To disable comments before publishing a post, open Advanced Settings and select Turn Off Commenting18. After publication, use the post’s three-dot menu to turn commenting back on18.

Meta patents describe two possible uses of comments beyond Instagram’s documented conversation tools, rather than confirmed Instagram features2021. One Meta patent describes extracting recommendations for places, activities or other items from comments, first drawing on earlier posts with similar requests and then updating the list from comments on the person’s own post20. Another Meta patent describes suggesting personalized comments or replies using the content that prompted an action, the person’s profile and historical responses, including frequently used or highly rated replies21.