Reddit tests new audio and video experience similar to TikTok

Reddit bets on videos and audios to bring viral stories to life

Reddit is embarking on a new journey. The platform, known for its discussion forums, now wants to bring its most viral stories to life through a "Reddit video" experience. The idea is to allow users to listen to posts while engaging in other activities. Starting Monday, Reddit will begin testing this novelty with audio and video posts in select communities. The goal is to understand which formats truly capture users' attention and can be scaled.

During a second-quarter earnings call, CEO Steve Huffman had already hinted at this change. He mentioned that many already consume Reddit content on other platforms, such as TikTok and Meta's Reels, where popular Reddit stories are narrated with the help of text-to-speech features or read by creators. These videos often display the words on screen or are accompanied by unrelated images, such as gameplay or cooking scenes.

Listening to Reddit

Huffman highlighted that there is an emerging type of content on the internet, resembling podcasts, where people read Reddit content. He believes that this "heard" or "spoken" version of Reddit could be quite engaging. Reddit informed TechCrunch that these initial tests are limited experiments designed to provide a better understanding of how these formats can be useful to users and whether they can be executed in a way that feels authentic to the platform.

Users will be able to choose between "reading" or "playing" a post when available. For now, the test will focus solely on English posts and will be accessible via the web, followed by Reddit's iOS and Android apps on Tuesday.

A new way to interact

It is important to note that these new formats will not replace the original posts, which will remain available for reading and interaction. The idea is that, in some situations, people may prefer to listen to Reddit audio while exercising, walking, or shopping. Others may want to see written conversations come to life through combined video and audio.

This is not the first time Reddit has experimented with videos. Years ago, the company launched native video hosting and tested various iterations of a TikTok-style video feed. More recently, Reddit introduced support for video in comments, which now accounts for over 10% of video posts on the platform.

Reddit is clearly trying to adapt to how people consume content today. The idea of transforming posts into audio and video experiences reflects this. The question is: will this new approach win over users? Time will tell.