Facebook is reportedly adding the ability to include images from your local drive as comments on posts.
Even though there's been some backlash over the decision not to support GIFs, it's still a pretty big step for Zuckerberg & Co. When a person starts brainstorming how this functionality could be useful for Pages and business owners, a few ideas pop into mind.
Think about it: until now, a travel company couldn't really say something like "post a picture of your favorite beach for a chance to win a trip to Cancun". Or a dentist couldn't say "Comment here with a pic of your biggest smile for a free cleaning". At the same time, it opens up the floodgates for negative visual feedback. If you're a hotel with a popular post or promotion going on and a customer suddenly comments with a picture of a bedbug they found in their sheets, that could create a lot of negative attention - certainly more than a text post would.
Just like everything else, picture commenting is neither a force for good or evil; it's simply a new way for users to express themselves (read: post more cat photos) . It's yet another avenue for small businesses to engage with their audiences and let them share their feelings with the brand.
This feature is set to roll out on desktop soon, but those using the Facebook app will have to wait a bit longer. They'll still be able to see the images in comments, but they won't have the ability to add images themselves quite yet.