This year holds great significance for Reddit. Following its IPO, the platform has an exciting lineup of product features planned for the upcoming year. Here’s a sneak peek: AI technology will power the majority of these features.
“The IPO was a significant milestone, but our main focus remains on enhancing the user experience,” stated Pali Bhat, Reddit’s chief product officer, in an interview with Eltrys.
Reddit has exciting plans in store, such as improving loading times, providing additional tools for moderators and developers, and introducing an AI-powered language translation feature to make the site accessible to a wider global audience.
“This use of LLMs is quite fascinating, allowing us to perform translations with a level of nuance that was previously unattainable,” Bhat remarked. Regardless of the subreddit’s users’ predominant language, you can use Reddit in French if you happen to be in France.
When a user posts in French, an English-speaking Redditor can read the post in English and respond accordingly. The French speaker then sees the response in their own language and replies in the same manner.
“Reddit used to primarily cater to English-speaking users and had a strong emphasis on the United States, the United Kingdom, and Mexico,” Bhat explained. We are currently experiencing rapid global expansion, with a substantial influx of users from various regions.
If you happen to be an investor in Reddit, that’s likely to be quite pleasing to you. However, Bhat possesses the necessary data to support this claim. In December 2023, half of Reddit’s daily active unique users hailed from countries outside of the United States, as stated in Reddit’s IPO filing.
AI plays a crucial role in Reddit’s recent enhancements to the moderator experience. Reddit has recently introduced new features that highlight keywords, making it simpler for moderators to identify potentially inappropriate content in their subreddits. Additionally, they have provided tools to help manage an influx of new members. The company plans to enhance its existing updates by introducing additional tools, such as an LLM that has been trained using moderators’ past decisions and actions.
Last year, Reddit faced widespread user protests due to its API pricing structure alteration. This change meant that several popular third-party Reddit apps would incur significant costs if they chose to continue operating. The backlash surrounding this issue has subsided, but Reddit is currently promoting the idea of developers creating content directly on their platform without any compensation. However, Bhat mentions that this situation might evolve in the future.
Discover the products available on the developer platform through r/WallStreetBets, where you’ll find a dynamic dashboard showcasing trending stocks, as well as active posters and commenters. Interestingly enough, Bhat points out that the scoreboard that gained the most popularity during the Super Bowl originated from Taylor Swift. It’s quite surprising, isn’t it?
“It’s fascinating how it’s opening up new experiences that we couldn’t have even imagined,” he expressed. It’s truly remarkable that our API foundation serves as the foundation for all of this.
