How to reply to conversations in the Inbox

Reply to comments, mentions, messages, and reviews from all your connected profiles in one place. This guide shows which engagements each network supports and how to reply from the Vista Social Inbox.

Available engagements per network

This table shows which types of engagements you can view and reply to in the Inbox for each supported network.

How to reply to conversations

1. Go to Inbox from the main menu.

2. Use Select profiles to choose which profiles to see. Profiles that don't support inbox engagements are grayed out.

3. Click All messages to change the view. For example, select Unread to see only the messages you haven't read or replied to yet.

4. Click Select filters to filter by date, message type (comments, mentions, messages, reviews, shares, invites), tags, dark post comments, or sentiment. Learn more in Inbox message options.

5. Open a conversation and choose how to respond at the bottom of the page:

• Reply sends your response to the person who wrote the message. For direct messages, this tab is called Reply in DM.
• Note adds an internal note that only your team can see.

6. Type your message and click the Send icon.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: How often does the inbox update for new messages?

A: Messages and comments from Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok come in real time. Other networks refresh every 5 to 6 hours. See the sync times for each network in Which engagements does Vista Social support for each network?.

Q: Can I delete messages from Vista Social?

A: No. Most social networks don't allow third-party tools to delete messages on a user's behalf, so this isn't available in Vista Social.

Q: Does Vista Social pull in ad comments?

A: Yes. Dark post comments are supported for Meta ads.

Q: Is there a time limit for responding to Facebook and Instagram DMs?

A: Yes. Meta has a response window policy for direct messages. Learn more in Meta's Response Window Policy.

Q: Can I get faster sync for LinkedIn?

A: Yes, on the Enterprise plan. It offers faster sync for LinkedIn Company Pages, with real-time updates for the engagements that are available.

Q: How many messages and comments can Vista Social sync per day?

A: Up to 500 messages and comments per profile per day.

Q: Are TikTok direct messages supported?

A: Yes, for Business Accounts outside the European Economic Area (EEA), Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. See also TikTok's Response Window Policy.

Q: Will direct messages sent natively on the social network show up in the Inbox?

A: Yes. All direct messages appear in your Vista Social Inbox, whether they were sent on the social network or through Vista Social.

Q: Why am I not receiving comments on Instagram posts where I'm tagged as a collaborator?

A: The Instagram API doesn't allow it. Only the account that published the post can receive and manage its comments in third-party tools like Vista Social.

Q: Why aren't my LinkedIn messages showing up in the Inbox?

A: LinkedIn only lets third-party tools sync comments and mentions. Private messages (DMs) aren't available through LinkedIn's API, so they don't appear in the Inbox. If LinkedIn opens up access in the future, we'll add them.

Q: I received a new comment on an old post, but it's not in my inbox. Why?

A: Vista Social can only retrieve comments from posts that are synced in your account. Most networks' APIs don't let us fetch comments on posts from before your connection, for example posts older than 60 days from your first connection date. Comments on newer, synced posts appear as expected. Learn more in How much historical data does Vista Social backfill?

Need help?

Reach out to our support team, and we are happy to help.

Related Reading:

Inbox message options

How to use internal notes in the Inbox

Which engagements does Vista Social support for each network?

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