How to Get 3x More Comments on YouTube Shorts Without Saying 'Comment Below'

In YouTube's unofficial point system — the engagement weighting that top creators have reverse-engineered from billions of views of data — comments recently jumped from 2 points to 3 points. Only full-video watches, rewatches, and sound clicks (all 4 points) rank higher.

This shift isn't random. YouTube is investing heavily in community features — voice notes in comments, collaborations, community posts. They want the platform to feel like a social network, not just a video player. And they're putting algorithmic weight behind the engagement signals that support that vision.

"YouTube is going in the direction of community. They understand that if there's more people feeling emotion in the community, you will have more people buying from ads, advertisers spend more money on YouTube, and YouTube makes more money. Which means we make more money."

Translation: if your Shorts aren't generating comments, you're leaving 3 algorithm points on the table per viewer interaction. Over millions of views, that gap in comment ratio becomes a massive distribution disadvantage.

The standard advice for getting comments is to add a CTA — a call to action. There are two flavors:

Visual CTAs: text pops up on screen saying "Comment your answer!" or "Subscribe" with an animated arrow. Audible CTAs: you say it out loud — "Subscribe if you think this kitty should be saved" or "Drop a comment with your favorite."

Both work. Neither works great. The problem with explicit CTAs is that they feel like what they are — a request. And most viewers scroll past requests. They don't feel compelled; they feel marketed to.

"The best way to get a CTA on comments is actually indirectly telling them to comment without actually saying it."

The highest-performing comment strategies don't ask for comments at all. They create situations where commenting is the viewer's natural, emotional response. The viewer doesn't feel prompted — they feel provoked.

This is the core strategy used across 38 automated channels to consistently drive comment ratios. The idea is simple: introduce a contradiction or subjective judgment that viewers will feel compelled to correct or debate.

Here's the exact example from the creator: "Let's say I'm doing a commentary video about the world's cutest bunnies and I go 'Number five — this ugly bunny was running down the street' and then on number four I'm like 'this cute bunny' — and they look the exact same."

What happens next is predictable: the comment section explodes. "That bunny's not ugly!" "They literally look the same!" "How is number 4 cuter than number 5?" People argue. They correct. They debate. And every single one of those comments is 3 algorithm points.

"Immediately there's some conflict and people are going to be like 'that bunny's not ugly.' It doesn't really matter what they're saying. It gets us comments and that comments is going to make us get pushed to the algorithm further."

The content doesn't change. The format doesn't change. You just insert one small moment of friction — a judgment call, a ranking choice, a statement that some portion of viewers will disagree with — and let human nature do the rest.

Sometimes the best comment triggers are ones you didn't plan. One creator shared a story about a juggling tutorial — "Here's how to juggle three balls in 60 seconds" — that got 17 million views. The comment section wasn't about juggling. It was about how he picked up one of the balls.

"As a juggler, I got really good at being able to just put a ball on my foot and kick it up. I did that pretty nonchalantly. I'm like 'start with one ball, throw it back and forth, and get your second ball' — and it was below the camera. Half the comments were people saying 'did nobody see how he just made that ball come out of nowhere?'"

He didn't plan it. He didn't even notice he'd done it. But that single unexpected moment — a ball appearing to materialize from nowhere — drove thousands of comments asking how he did it.

"I didn't even mean to. Now every video I upload I purposely put it out of frame and then just siphon the ball into my hand to make it look like it's coming out of nowhere."

The takeaway: look for moments in your content that might confuse, surprise, or intrigue viewers — even if they're unrelated to the main topic. Those moments generate comments because they trigger curiosity, not because you asked for engagement.

Every high-comment Short shares one trait: it makes viewers feel something strongly enough that they have to express it. The emotion can be anything — surprise, disagreement, nostalgia, anger, amusement. YouTube doesn't care which emotion. It cares that emotion happened.

"It's all about emotions. When you do something unexpected — what do the viewers feel? Surprise. And that same emotion applies to every social media platform, not just YouTube."

This is why engineered conflict works: disagreement is an emotion. It's why accidental surprises work: confusion is an emotion. And it's why "comment below!" doesn't work — obligation is not an emotion.

The framework: before you post a Short, ask yourself — what is the viewer going to feel? If the answer is "nothing" or "mildly interested," your comment ratio will be low regardless of how many CTAs you add. If the answer is "surprised," "annoyed," "impressed," or "confused" — you're going to get comments without asking.

Here are five tested techniques for driving comments without explicit CTAs, applicable across any Shorts niche:

Technique 1 — Subjective rankings: Rank things in an order that some people will disagree with. "Number 3 is better than number 2" is inherently debatable and drives corrections.

Technique 2 — Visible "mistakes": Leave something slightly wrong or unusual in the frame. A misspelling, an object out of place, a detail that doesn't match. Viewers will point it out.

Technique 3 — Unfinished stories: End the video at a cliffhanger. Don't give the resolution. People will comment asking what happened next.

Technique 4 — Polarizing statements: Make a claim that's defensible but not unanimous. "This is the best pizza in New York" will generate 500 comments from people who disagree.

Technique 5 — Hidden details: Put something surprising in the background or do something briefly that most viewers will miss on first watch. The ones who catch it will comment, and their comments make others rewatch to find it.