Reddit tests new video and audio features for viral posts
▼ Summary
– Reddit is developing a “video Reddit” experience that will let users watch videos and listen to posts in the background, announced during its second-quarter earnings call.
– CEO Steve Huffman noted that this content type already thrives elsewhere, citing 19.6 million TikTok posts tagged #reddit and 9.9 million tagged #redditstories, which often pair text-to-speech narration with unrelated video.
– Huffman described the feature as “listened-to or spoken Reddit,” a new format distinct from existing video, with testing expected “later this year.”
– The move aligns with a broader trend of apps adding TikTok-like video feeds, including Facebook, Netflix, Disney+, Peacock, HBO Max, Amazon, and LinkedIn.
– Reddit reported early success with video in comments, launched in June, which now accounts for over 10% of its video posts.
Reddit is borrowing a page from the TikTok playbook to turn viral written stories into engaging video content. During Thursday’s second-quarter earnings call, the company revealed it is developing a new “video Reddit” experience, one that will let users watch platform videos and even listen to posts while multitasking in the background.
CEO Steve Huffman pointed out to investors that this kind of content is already finding a massive audience elsewhere. He’s not exaggerating. On TikTok alone, the hashtag #reddit has amassed 19.6 million posts, while #redditstories accounts for another 9.9 million. A huge portion of these clips pair a robotic text-to-speech narration of a popular Reddit story with unrelated visuals, such as gameplay or cooking footage.
“There is an emerging content type elsewhere on the internet of, basically, podcasts where people read Reddit content,” Huffman said on the call. “I think this version of, like, listened-to or spoken Reddit can be really engaging, as well,” he added. “So that would be almost a different format entirely.”
Exactly how these video formats will be woven into Reddit’s main app remains under wraps, but Huffman hinted that the company plans to roll out a test version “later this year.”
This move arrives as the broader social and entertainment landscape races to replicate TikTok’s addictive full-screen video feed. Just last week, Facebook announced it would start testing a redesigned app experience that drops certain users straight into a full-screen video the moment they open the platform. Meanwhile, streaming services like Netflix, Disney+, Peacock, and HBO Max have all introduced their own short-form video feeds over the past few months. Amazon has a vertical video feed designed to spark shopping inspiration, and even LinkedIn, of all platforms, has jumped on the bandwagon.
It’s the TikTok-ification of the web playing out at full scale.
On top of that, Reddit touted the early traction of its video-in-comments feature, which launched in June. The company says the tool already powers more than 10% of all video posts on the platform, signaling that users are quick to embrace richer, more dynamic ways to interact.
(Source: TechCrunch)
