Tech news in 3 minutes
Reddit tests audio playback for viral posts
**Reddit Eyes TikTok-Inspired "Video Reddit" Experience with Audio Posts to Boost Engagement** Reddit is developing a new "video Reddit" experience that will allow users to watch videos and listen to posts in the background, CEO Steve Huffman revealed during Thursday’s Q2 earnings call, signaling the platform’s push into TikTok-style content consumption. Huffman noted that Reddit is responding to an "emerging content type" elsewhere on the internet, specifically referencing TikTok’s 19.6 million posts tagged #reddit and 9.9 million tagged #redditstories, which feature text-to-speech narrations of viral Reddit stories paired with unrelated gameplay or cooking footage. "There is an emerging content type elsewhere of, basically, podcasts where people read Reddit content," Huffman explained, adding that a "listened-to or spoken Reddit" format could be "really engaging." While details remain unclear on how video posts will integrate into Reddit’s main app, Huffman teased testing would begin "later this year." The announcement comes amid widespread "TikTok-ification" across social and entertainment platforms, including Facebook’s planned full-screen video test, Netflix and Disney+ adding short feeds, Amazon’s shopping inspiration videos, and even LinkedIn. Reddit also highlighted early success of its video-in-comments feature, launched in June, which now accounts for over 10% of video posts. The move positions Reddit to capitalize on viral storytelling trends while competing for user engagement in an increasingly video-dominated digital landscape. **Primary Keywords:** Reddit video experience, TikTok-style content, audio posts, viral stories, social media trends, short video feeds **Search Intent:** Readers seeking updates on Reddit’s product evolution, TikTok-inspired features, social media video trends, and platform engagement strategies for Q2 2024.