Reddit introduces 'chat channels', new way to chat within subreddits

San Francisco, April 29

Social discussion forum Reddit has introduced "chat channels", a new way to chat within subreddits.

With this move, the company is trying to provide community members with more ways to interact with each other.

"This month, we're experimenting exclusively with 25 volunteer subreddits on a new way to chat within subreddits - chat channels! Chat channels are dedicated spaces within a subreddit to connect, ask questions, or just hang out," Reddit said in a blogpost on Thursday.

The new feature will include a dedicated channel for moderators to discuss subreddit management, plus, they will be able to choose whether or not to enable this feature for the community in the first place.

In addition, the platform will provide moderators with tools such as the ability to select who can participate in chat, manage the chat queue, and moderate reported messages in a conversation.

Moreover, the company also shared that it will shut down 'Predictions' as early as May 9.

"That means, as early as May 9, the ability to create new tournaments, participate in active tournaments, and view old tournaments will no longer be available and historic content will be removed," Reddit said.

According to the company, the decision to shutdown 'Predictions' is taken to help make Reddit simpler, easier to navigate, and participate in.

"Sunsetting Predictions allows us to focus on building products with wider impact to both mods and redditors," the company shared.

Earlier this week, Reddit launched an update to the subreddit header where most redditors on iOS and Android will see a simplified and modernised design.

Under the Subreddit Header Redesign, a header tab ("About", "Menu", etc.) will be available for all users by clicking anywhere on the subreddit header, a search bar will be condensed into a single button, and spacing will be reduced between posts and the header to allow for more post visibility.

"While this update has launched, we will continue to iterate the subreddit header to make the 'About' tabs more prominent in the future," the company stated.