Reddit is introducing changes to its interface that will split the user’s feed into two – one for reading text content and the other for video content.
The social media site is joining the growing list of platforms that are transforming their feeds to look a bit more like TikTok.
In a press release published on Tuesday, the company said that this is part of an ongoing revamp that has been taking place for a few months.
The update includes enhancements in the way that users search for information within the platform and the incorporation of more moderation tools within the mobile app.
How Do the Two New Feeds Launched by Reddit Work?
The two new feeds launched by Reddit are called ‘Read’ and ‘Watch’ and they display two different content formats, the first being plain text and the other short-form videos.
These videos are now supported by the platform through Dubmash, the TikTok-like app that the company acquired back in 2020 and that it eventually shut down and integrated with the Reddit app a year after.
With the Read feed, users will be able to focus entirely on the publications and comments made by other users within the channels they have joined.
Text posts have been the sole format supported by Reddit since the beginning although memes and images are also a big part of how users communicate their ideas through the platform.
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Meanwhile, the Watch feed will be a new TikTok-style version of the platform that is responding to changes in consumers’ preferences.
Reddit did not clarify what the maximum length of the videos will be but they are probably going to be short – users can also share GIFs, which will also be categorized as videos and added to the Watch feed.
These changes are being made just a week after Reddit launched a new feature that let users search for specific comments within a post by using an in-app tool instead of having to rely on the browser’s search capabilities.
The feature was made available to both the desktop and mobile versions of the social media app.
In addition, Reddit said that it will soon be launching a direct messaging and group chat module in the coming weeks.
The company cautioned users that they could experience some service interruptions from time to time as a result of this transition to a new interface.
Reddit Joins Meta and YouTube in Push for Video-Centered Interfaces
Videos are becoming the preferred and most prioritized format for social media platforms nowadays as the overnight success of TikTok showed that creators prefer to express themselves by using visual content and not just text.
This new trend has prompted popular applications such as Facebook, Instagram, and the Alphabet-owned video-sharing giant YouTube to embrace short videos to stay relevant.
In the case of YouTube, its intention to push the “Shorts” as a key format within its platform has been quite obvious.
To entice creators to make these kinds of videos, the video-sharing app has agreed to share a portion of its ad revenues for Shorts as well.
Meanwhile, Meta Platforms (META) was forced to make Instagram a more video-centered app with the launch of Reels as the company initially missed the boat and largely ignored TikTok’s success to the point that it let it become a meaningful threat to its business model.
It is also interesting that many of these platforms are rushing to incorporate content formats that support videos at a point when legislators within the United States are pushing for an outright ban of TikTok within the country.
It appears that everyone is preparing to split the loot if such a ban occurs as US-based creators and users will have to go somewhere to keep sharing their beloved short-form videos.