Image Credit: Reddit

Announced yesterday, Reddit joins the list of tech companies that have built Clubhouse-like social audio features into their platform.

Reddit Talk was officially announced by the social site yesterday in r/modnews. Currently Reddit is built on text threads, images, videos, chats, and live streams to have conversations. Live audio appears to be the next step for Reddit.

Looking and operating very similarly to Clubhouse, moderators of subreddits can host live audio conversations, so community members can chat with each other in real-time. Reddit are keeping moderation tight for the launch of Talk. During early tests, Reddit says only a community’s moderators will be able to start a talk, but they can invite trusted speakers to co-host a talk. Once live, any redditor on iOS and Android can join the room to listen in and react with emojis. Listeners can raise their hand for the host to invite them to speak.

Reddit Talk inviting to talk
Image Credit: Reddit

Hosts can invite, mute and remove speakers or users from a talk entirely, preventing them from rejoining.

Reddit Talk muted/removed from the room
Image Credit: Reddit

After tests, Reddit will work with moderators to let other trusted community members host talks. Reddit are also testing ways for hosts to personalize the look and feel of talks for each community, with customization of emojis and background colours. Redditors will be able to change their avatar’s appearance to fit the talk.

Video Credit: Reddit

Launching a Clubhouse-like feature within Reddit is likely a smart move, bringing new life to common discussions threads such as AMAs and Q&As. Moderators interested in trying out the feature can sign up to the waitlist here. See the full post from Reddit and comments from the community here.

Yesterday also saw Facebook announce their new Social Audio Experiences to compete with Clubhouse. Last month, Spotify announced similar plans.