Reddit is testing a new format that turns its most shared text posts into something closer to short-form video and background audio. During the company’s second-quarter earnings call, CEO Steve Huffman described an experimental “video Reddit” experience that would let people watch clips drawn from the platform while also listening to posts as they go about other tasks.
The idea is not original. Outside Reddit’s own app, the same formula already thrives. TikTok hosts tens of millions of videos tagged with Reddit-related hashtags, many of them pairing a robotic or human voice reading a popular thread with unrelated footage of games, cooking, or scenery. Huffman noted the rise of these “podcasts where people read Reddit content” and suggested a native version could prove engaging in its own right. The company plans to put something into limited testing later this year, though it has not said how the feature will sit inside the main feed or whether it will appear as a separate tab.
The move arrives amid a broader industry shift toward vertical video. Facebook is preparing its own full-screen video test for a portion of users. Streaming services including Netflix, Disney+, Peacock, and HBO Max have added short-form clips in recent months. Even LinkedIn and Amazon now surface brief video streams. What began as a TikTok specialty has become a default assumption across social and entertainment platforms: if people will not scroll text, they might still watch or listen while doing something else.
Reddit’s own data offers a small early signal. Video replies in comments, introduced in June, already make up more than 10 percent of the platform’s video posts. That figure suggests some users are willing to record short clips rather than type. Whether those same users will embrace auto-narrated stories or whether the format will simply recycle existing viral posts remains an open question. Text-to-speech narration of Reddit threads can feel efficient, but it also risks flattening the tone, sarcasm, and community context that make many posts travel in the first place.
The experiment reflects a familiar tension. Platforms that once differentiated themselves through text or long-form discussion now feel pressure to compete on attention metrics shaped by short video. Reddit still holds a distinctive archive of user-generated stories and debates; packaging those stories for passive consumption could expand reach, yet it also moves the product closer to the very services that already mine its content without permission. How the company balances discovery, moderation, and the original text experience will determine whether the new format adds value or simply dilutes what made the site useful.
For now the project remains early and lightly detailed. Huffman’s comments frame it as one response among many to changing habits rather than a finished product. The coming test will show whether Reddit users want to hear their own posts read aloud while watching someone else play a game, or whether they prefer the slower, more deliberate pace that built the platform’s reputation in the first place.
