Reddit also works on Clubhouse-style audio rooms. Voice chats are invading the Internet, and the rapid growth of Clubhouses in the iOS world is partly to blame.
Although many other platforms were already working on similar solutions, with the voice as the protagonist, they have all decided to accelerate development in fear that Clubhouse would take the whole pie, and it seems that Reddit was one of them.
Without such disclosure, Reddit is creating a new feature that would allow moderator-driven voice chats, although at the moment it is only an announcement made by a source familiar with the company’s plan. The development is still in the early stages and was described as confidential.
These audio rooms in Reddit may be part of the Reddit boosters program, which was announced in August 2020, a project that will launch additional features for some subreddits that meet special conditions. Among the features, we may have the ability to upload and stream HD quality videos, or to put certain GIFs in comments, features that could be paid features for community managers.
Having a voice chat in communities of thousands of users (millions, in some cases) can help change the business model of many creators, although very sophisticated and intelligent tools will be necessary to be able to moderate the experience in a controlled way. If moderating a room with 50 people is already a tremendous job, imagine 30,000 people raising their hands at the same time because they want to participate in the talk.
