Reddit is testing a new way for users to consume content on the platform, transforming text posts into audio and video formats using AI-generated voices.
As part of the limited experiment, some Reddit posts are being adapted into videos featuring AI voices reading the original post and selected comments, giving users an alternative to scrolling through text-based conversations.
The experiment follows comments from Reddit CEO Steve Huffman during the company’s second-quarter earnings call last month, when he revealed Reddit was exploring ways for users to listen to posts in the background.
Huffman pointed to the growing popularity of videos and podcasts built around people reading Reddit posts, suggesting there was an opportunity for Reddit to bring the format directly to its own platform.
“There is an emerging content type elsewhere on the internet of, basically, podcasts where people read Reddit content,” Huffman said.
“I think this version of listened-to or spoken Reddit can be really engaging. So that would be almost a different format entirely.”
In a statement to B&T, a Reddit spokesperson confirmed the company is now testing the idea.
“Reddit is testing a new way for people to experience the conversations that make Reddit unique, beyond just reading them,” the spokesperson said.
“We want to make it easier for people to experience Reddit conversations in the format that works for them, whether that’s text, audio, or video, while staying connected to the original post.
“This is an early, limited experiment to understand whether people find these formats useful and how we can deliver them in a way that feels authentic to Reddit.”
The move comes as social, entertainment and professional platforms increasingly experiment with short-form, TikTok-style video feeds as a way of changing how users discover and consume content.
Last week, Facebook announced plans to begin testing a reimagined experience later this year that would open some users directly into a full-screen video feed when they launch the app.
Streaming platforms including Netflix, Disney+, Peacock and HBO Max have also introduced TikTok-style short-video feeds, while Amazon has rolled out a short-video experience focused on shopping inspiration.
LinkedIn has also joined the short-form video push, adding its own dedicated video feed.
For Reddit, however, the experiment represents a slightly different approach: rather than asking users to create new video content, the platform is effectively repackaging the vast amount of text and conversation already being generated by its communities.
It also marks an attempt to meet users beyond Reddit’s traditional text-first experience, while keeping the original posts and conversations at the centre of the content.
Whether users want to hear Reddit rather than read it remains to be seen, but the experiment suggests the platform is increasingly looking at ways to turn its enormous archive of community-generated conversations into new formats.
