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Reddit—one of the most popular websites in the world with over 330 million active users, and often billed as “the front page of the internet”—has now dipped its toes into news publication.
Reddit has unveiled a dedicated News tab on iOS as beta feature. It will essentially serve as a home for content from communities on the platform that frequently share and engage with the news.
“For years, people have recognized Reddit as the best place to have conversation around news,” says Reddit author @thunderemoji. “This discussion and analysis, has always been part of the DNA of Reddit. Today, we’re simply making it easier for redditors to find the latest news and conversation they already seek out on Reddit.”
Reddit acknowledged that while news is an important part of how people use Reddit, it has become difficult to only get the news and related discussions, especially if members are subscribed to lots of non-news subreddits, or mostly browse the popular threads.
Users can find the news tab on the top left side on their app, and it currently comprises news posts from a range of topics such as politics, science, sports, entertainment, and tech.
“We took care to build the News experience around communities that were already engaging with news the most,” announced Reddit author @0perspective. “We have set guidelines for the communities that filter into the experience, as well as the post type. We’ll continue to expand the communities you see in News.”
In the wake of Facebook pulling Trending Topics, it is possible Reddit is hoping to fill the vacuum with its news discovery feature. But with entrenched alternatives like Google News and Apple News already going strong, and newer entrants with deep pockets like Microsoft, it’s unlikely to be an easy task. Then again, with hundreds of millions of active users, if anyone has a shot, it’s Reddit.
What’s next?
While presently available only via the Reddit iOS app, the company will expand a more feature-rich version of news across various platforms in the coming days.
“So far, we have been testing the News experience in the iOS mobile app. Later this summer, we will be releasing it to desktop,” Reddit announced. “Based on your feedback, we are also working on a few additional features”.
The war of news on mobile is heating up, and getting more and more interesting almost with each passing day.
For publishers, the good news is that each community/app is a direct conduit to a larger, engaged audience. And however this plays out, internet media consumption is firmly on a growth path.
