Spotify has rolled out a new auto-moderation tool aimed at enhancing the management of comments on podcast episodes, a feature initially introduced in July 2024.
 This new development allows podcasters to engage with their audiences more effectively while maintaining control over the discussions.
The auto-moderation tool offers three levels of comment filtering:
– Standard: This setting filters out potentially sensitive or inappropriate comments for review before they are published.
– High: This option holds all comments for podcaster approval, ensuring complete oversight before any comment appears publicly.
– Low: This setting automatically posts all comments except those that violate Spotify’s community guidelines.
Additionally, sensitive comments that are published will remain hidden by default unless users opt to view them by selecting “Show all comments.”
Podcasters also have the flexibility to create a custom blocklist, which allows them to add specific words, phrases, or emojis that will automatically be sent to the review queue, giving creators further control over the conversation surrounding their content.
 Furthermore, the option to disable comments for specific episodes is available, allowing creators to choose when they want to engage with their audience.
While Spotify currently requires manual review for non-English comments, the platform plans to expand its language support in the future.
Since the launch of the comments feature, users have posted approximately 2.5 million comments across 650,000 episodes, with about 44% of these comments receiving likes or replies from creators, highlighting a significant level of engagement.
To further enhance user interaction, Spotify is introducing additional features such as Q&As, polls, and video podcasts. Engagement statistics indicate that users who participate in these features are four times more likely to return to listen to more content within 30 days.
With these new tools and features, Spotify aims to foster a more interactive and safe podcasting environment, enabling creators to connect more meaningfully with their listeners.
