Reddit is building a video and audio listening experience for the viral post format it accidentally created for TikTok

Q: When is Reddit planning to start testing the new video/audio listening experience mentioned in the article?

CEO Steve Huffman said on Reddit's Q2 2026 earnings call that testing is expected to begin before the end of the year. The company plans to start testing the new video and audio listening experience later in the year.

Q: Will the new Reddit format support background audio playback so users can listen while the app is not in the foreground?

Yes. The article states Reddit's new experience would let users "simply listen to [posts] in the background," positioning the feature so people can catch up on threads during a commute without keeping the app in the foreground.

Q: Which types of Reddit posts or communities (e.g., r/AmITheAsshole, r/relationships) is this feature meant to highlight or convert into narrated video/audio?

The feature is meant to highlight viral Reddit posts that are turned into narrated audio or video, especially posts from communities like r/AmITheAsshole and r/relationships. The article describes the format as text-to-speech narration of viral Reddit posts played over unrelated background footage.

Q: Does the article say whether Reddit will use text-to-speech narration or allow human-voiced narrations for the listening experience?

The article notes that the TikTok format it references typically uses text-to-speech narration and that Reddit wants a "listened-to or spoken Reddit," but it explicitly says what the feature will actually look like inside the app has not been specified. Therefore the article does not say whether Reddit will use text-to-speech narration or allow human-voiced narrations for the listening experience.

Reddit wants users to listen to viral threads on its own platform instead of watching them elsewhere, as #reddit posts hit 19.6 million on TikTok.

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Hassam Nasir

Tech Reporter

Published Jul 31, 2026 4:50 PM CDT

1 minute & 15 seconds read time

TL;DR: Reddit plans to test a new video and audio listening feature by year-end to let users watch or listen to viral Reddit posts on its app-a response to the popular text-to-speech Reddit post format driving millions of TikTok clips tagged #reddit and #redditstories.

Voice: Hassam NasirSpeed

0:00 / 2:33

Reddit is building a new video experience that would let users watch and listen to viral posts directly on the platform. CEO Steve Huffman revealed during the company's Q2 2026 earnings call that testing is expected to begin before the end of the year.

The feature is a direct response to a format that has been making Reddit's content enormously popular on other platforms for years. On TikTok alone, there are 19.6 million posts tagged with #reddit and another 9.9 million under #redditstories. The format is now its own distinct genre, featuring a text-to-speech narration of a viral Reddit post, usually from communities like r/AmITheAsshole or r/relationships, played over unrelated background footage like Minecraft parkour or cooking videos.

Reddit is building a video and audio listening experience for the viral post format it accidentally created for TikTok 3

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"There is an emerging content type elsewhere on the internet of, basically, podcasts where people read Reddit content," Huffman told investors. "I think this version of, like, listened-to or spoken Reddit can be really engaging, as well. So that would be almost a different format entirely."

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The new experience would allow users to either watch video versions of popular posts or simply listen to them in the background. The background audio angle is particularly interesting since it positions Reddit not just against TikTok but against audio platforms, allowing users to catch up on threads during a commute without keeping the app in the foreground.

Reddit is building a video and audio listening experience for the viral post format it accidentally created for TikTok 1

What the feature will actually look like inside Reddit's app has not been specified. Reddit has had a complicated history with video, including a video player that users have long criticised for poor reliability and a TikTok-style feed it tested in 2022 that never meaningfully took off.

Frequently Asked Questions

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Question #1

When is Reddit planning to start testing the new video/audio listening experience mentioned in the article?

Question #2

Will the new Reddit format support background audio playback so users can listen while the app is not in the foreground?

Question #3

Which types of Reddit posts or communities (e.g., r/AmITheAsshole, r/relationships) is this feature meant to highlight or convert into narrated video/audio?

Question #4

Does the article say whether Reddit will use text-to-speech narration or allow human-voiced narrations for the listening experience?

Have a question not listed here? Ask below and TweakBot will answer it.

Alongside Reddit, Facebook announced plans to test a full-screen video experience for some users later this year. Netflix, Disney+, HBO Max, Peacock, Amazon, and LinkedIn have all also added short-form vertical video feeds in recent months. The TikTok-ification of every major platform is well underway, and Reddit is now also joining that wave.