I know how to delete stupid and spammy comments from my Facebook posts in a Web browser. Can I do the same from the Facebook Mobile app on my phone?
As a general rule, everything you can do from the Facebook Web interface you can also do from the mobile app. Getting to a specific feature or capability might be a bit – or a LOT – more complicated, but Facebook has long since realized that many of its users are mobile only or mobile-centric and need access to, well, everything. From managing a business page to moderating an active group, running an ad campaign to sharing photos from your child’s latest concert, if you can do it on Facebook, you can do it in Facebook Mobile on an iPhone or Android device.
There are also some well meaning folk who believe in never deleting any comments from social media, believing that stupid or smart, they are all part of the great public discourse. I am most assuredly not of that bent and while I am fine with different perspectives, there are some that are just junk and don’t add anything to the conversation. Every time I post about a movie, for example, some spammer pops up with a comment encouraging people to go to their page to get free movies. As if. A perfect example of a comment that should be deleted.
In fact, I had just this happen a few days ago on Facebook…
Who is Zizi Kasiyah? A fake account created for the purpose of conning people into going to a page where they are much more likely to get a virus or other malware than a chance to see movies that haven’t even made it to the theater.
On the Web interface, it’s super easy, as you can see in the below example of me considering getting rid of Kenny’s comment through the use of the “•••” button to the side of every single comment:
But back to mobile! Tap on that comment and you’ll actually pop over to “Devina Shades” Facebook profile, another fake account:
You can grab images from anywhere on the Web, you can specify any location you like (I’m highly skeptical that anyone’s in or near Jhapa, Nepal with this spyware and malware scheme) and it all looks legit. But it clearly is spam. Don’t check out Devina, but more importantly, how do you get rid of that annoying comment?
Turns out you need to simply tap and hold your finger over a comment in the Facebook for Mobile app and after a few seconds, like magic, a menu of options appears:
There ya go! That beautiful Delete option. Tap on it and…
Yup, I really do want to delete this spammy comment from my Facebook post. Easily done – now that you know where the button hides! – with another tap on “Delete“. And, finally, my post without that pesky comment:
Now would a hardcore “free speech’er” have left that comment? I hope not. Each of us has to find our own preference for which comments they allow on their posts, ranging from “only people who agree with me” to everyone imaginable, however mean or crude they are. I have what I call the living room rule and expect polite and respectful interaction between people on my posts. Within that constraint, they’re welcome to disagree with me and with each other. I hope you have a thoughtful policy too!
Pro Tip: I have written hundreds of hands-on tutorials about Facebook. While you’re here, please do check out our extensive Facebook help pages! And don’t forget we’ve got a big presence on Facebook too. Follow AskDaveTaylor on Facebook to stay in the know.