Community comments, messages and Auto-DM

Flockly Community brings supported social conversations into the embedded app.

Comment reading and public replies are available for Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn. Direct messages and comment-to-message Auto-DM workflows are currently Instagram-only.

Work through comments

1. Open Community → Comments.
2. Use the network filters or search to find a person or conversation.
3. Open a comment to see its original post and current status.
4. Write a public reply. For an eligible Instagram comment, choose Private reply instead.
5. Mark the conversation Complete when it no longer needs attention. Completed comments remain available and can be reopened.

The reply editor can include an emoji or a Shopify link. Review the selected reply type before sending because a public reply appears on the network while a private reply is sent directly to the Instagram commenter.

Instagram only accepts a private reply to a comment while that comment is less than seven days old. A comment can remain visible after the private-reply window closes, and a public reply may still be available.

Use Instagram direct messages

The Instagram DM inbox is available on Starter, Growth and Scale. Open Community → DMs to read and reply to available Instagram conversations.

Meta accepts a DM reply within 24 hours of the person's last message. An older conversation can remain visible after that window closes, but the thread may be view-only until the person sends another message. Facebook DMs are not currently available in Flockly.

Create an Auto-DM rule

Auto-DM is a Growth and Scale feature for comments on a post that is already live on Instagram.

1. Open Community → Auto-DM and connect Instagram if prompted.
2. Create a rule and choose the live Instagram post to monitor.
3. Leave keywords blank to match every new comment, or enter comma-separated words to match selected comments.
4. Write the private message the matching commenter should receive and review the preview.
5. Start the rule, then use its activity and sent count to review what happened.

Checks run about every 15 minutes, so a matching message is not necessarily sent immediately. A rule can be paused, resumed, stopped or deleted. An Instagram profile can currently create up to two new Auto-DM rules within 24 hours, and Instagram private replies only work for comments less than seven days old.

See Instagram DM inbox and Auto-DM for the focused limits and setup summary.

If conversations are missing or replies fail

• Select Refresh once to request the latest available conversations.
• Check that the affected Instagram, Facebook or LinkedIn account is live in Connections. Follow connecting social accounts if Flockly asks for a reconnect.
• A temporary network rate limit can prevent new comments from loading. Wait and refresh later rather than repeatedly sending the same request.
• A comment on a deleted or unavailable post cannot be shown or answered in Flockly.
• If an Instagram private reply is disabled, check the comment age. The seven-day private-reply window may have closed.
• If an Instagram DM composer is unavailable, check whether the person's last message was within the 24-hour reply window.
• If Auto-DM has no eligible posts, publish an Instagram post or Reel first. A post already used by another active rule cannot be selected for a second active rule.

Connection permissions and network rules can change which actions are available for an individual conversation. Flockly shows an error when the social network does not accept a requested reply or message.

Need help?

Contact Flockly with your Shopify store name, the network, the post or conversation involved and the exact message shown. Do not include social-network passwords or private customer message content that is not necessary to investigate the issue.