Reddit, a social media platform popular for its forum-like approach to doing things, is rolling out a short-form video feed. TikTok pioneered short-form video feed, which is now being replicated by Instagram, Snapchat, and now Reddit.
Reddit has already started rolling out the feature to iOS users; with no indication as to whether it will available on Android anytime soon. Per TechCrunch, most iOS users should have a button on their app directly to the right of their search bar. When the button is tapped, a stream of videos just like what we have in TikTok will appear.
You will be allowed to either upvote or downvote, comment, gift an award or share it [the video]. The video presented will show the poster who uploaded it and the subreddit it is from.
The Reddit version works just like TikTok’s—you can swipe up to see another video, feeding content from subreddits the user is subscribed to, as well as related ones.
“Reddit’s mission is to bring community and belonging to everyone in the world, and subsequently, Reddit’s video team’s mission is to bring community through video,” a Reddit spokesperson said per TechCrunch. “Over the course of the last year, our goal was to build a unified video player, and re-envision the player interface to match what users (new and old) expect when it comes to an in-app video player — especially commenting, viewing, engaging, and discovering new content and communities through video,” they noted.
The icon, according to Reddit, first appeared for some users back in July, and rollout is expected to continue. What, however, has not been confirmed is when the button will be available for Android users.
A couple of weeks ago, TikTok confirmed a pilot test of Stories—a feature that enables you to post content that disappears after 24 hours. TikTok Stories, is being fashioned after those of Snapchat and Instagram.
The test, which has been on for only a couple of days now, is currently only limited to a handful of users in the US. It is a feature that is coming to stay—and will work along with the existing storytelling tools like Duets, Live, and Stitch.
The test was uncovered by social media expert Matt Navarra. Coming at a time when Twitter was pulling the plug on its Fleets—its own Stories version. TikTok’s version of Stories is not too dissimilar to what other social media platforms offer.
