Reddit, the sprawling forum network known for its text-heavy discussions, is quietly preparing a shift that could change how its most popular stories reach audiences. During Thursday's second-quarter earnings call, CEO Steve Huffman revealed the company is building a video experience that goes beyond simple clips, aiming to let users both watch and listen to the platform's viral content. The move signals a broader strategy to capture attention in a landscape dominated by short-form video. Main Developments Huffman described an emerging internet trend where creators narrate Reddit posts over unrelated visuals, such as gameplay or cooking footage. He pointed to TikTok as evidence, noting 19.6 million posts tagged #reddit and another 9.9 million tagged #redditstories. These videos often pair text-to-speech narration of a viral story with engaging background footage, creating a hybrid format that has proven wildly popular. This format, Huffman suggested, could translate into a 'listened-to or spoken Reddit' experience. He framed it as 'almost a different format entirely,' distinct from the traditional reading experience. The company has not detailed how these videos will integrate into the main app, but Huffman teased that testing would begin later this year. Read also: 3 ways Smallest.ai's $13M Series A rethinks voice AI latency Separately, Reddit touted early wins with its video-in-comments feature, launched in June. That addition already accounts for more than 10% of all video posts on the platform, signaling strong user adoption. The company is clearly betting that richer media formats can deepen engagement without alienating its core text-loving community. Background Reddit's push comes amid a wave of platforms mimicking TikTok's addictive full-screen video feed. Facebook announced plans to test a reimagined experience that opens directly into full-screen video for a subset of users. Streaming services like Netflix, Disney+, Peacock, and HBO Max have all added short-form video feeds in recent months, while Amazon offers a video feed for shopping inspiration. Even LinkedIn, a professional networking site, has jumped on the trend. This is not Reddit's first foray into video. The platform has long supported native video uploads, but the new direction focuses on repackaging existing content into a consumable, audio-first format. The rise of 'Reddit stories' on other platforms shows a clear demand for this content, and Reddit is positioning itself to capture that audience directly. Why It Matters For Reddit, the stakes are high. The platform has historically relied on text-based discussions, but user attention is increasingly gravitating toward video. By offering a native way to watch and listen to viral posts, Reddit could retain users who currently leave the site to consume this content elsewhere. It also opens new advertising and engagement opportunities, potentially boosting time spent on the platform. For creators, this could mean new ways to monetize or repurpose content, though details remain sparse. For users, the feature promises a more passive way to consume Reddit—listening to stories while multitasking, much like podcasts. The success of this experiment could influence how other text-heavy platforms adapt to the video-first era. What's Next Reddit has not announced a specific launch date, but Huffman indicated that testing would begin later this year. The company will likely roll out the feature to a small group of users initially, gathering feedback before a broader release. Key questions remain: Will the video experience live inside the main app or as a separate product? Will it include user-generated narrations or rely on text-to-speech? Huffman's comments suggest that Reddit is still exploring the format, so the final product could evolve significantly. As competitors like Facebook push their own video experiments, Reddit's approach will be closely watched. The coming months will reveal whether this bet pays off, and whether the platform can successfully bridge the gap between reading and listening without losing its core identity.