Reddit, which is now a publicly traded corporation and subject to greater scrutiny about its income development, is prioritizing the expansion of its foreign user base, starting with targeting French-speaking individuals. CEO Steve Huffman confirmed during the company’s first earnings call that it is currently working on developing real-time automated translations of the site’s content into French, utilizing advancements in big language models.
In addition, he discussed the ecosystem’s growth through a few reversals in direction. Reddit aims to attract developers by offering new tools, which is unexpected considering its past approach. Additionally, the firm plans to reintroduce Reddit Gold after discontinuing its virtual currency initiatives less than a year ago.
These moves include predicting the potential future of Reddit rather than focusing on its current state. At present, the news is rather positive, as Reddit’s income in the previous quarter increased by 48% compared to the previous year, reaching $243 million. Additionally, the number of unique users has grown by 37% to a total of 82.7 million. (This figure includes both active and inactive users, mirroring the approach Twitter—now known as X—used to gauge its viewership when it was open to the public.)
The user base expansion and language translation are underway.
During the earnings call, Huffman said that 50% of Reddit’s readership is located in the United States. This indicates that the firm is prioritising efforts to enhance its overseas presence.
“Our current composition has an equal distribution of U.S. and non-U.S. individuals, whereas our peers primarily consist of non-U.S. individuals, with a range of 80% to 90%.” “I believe there is a significant opportunity available.” He went on to characterise automated, AI-powered translation as “a significant breakthrough for us in the foreseeable future.”
“Today, we are translating our complete collection of texts, which is primarily in English, into other languages. We anticipate that this will contribute to the rapid expansion of our international presence,” he said.
The site-wide translation effort is now in a testing phase, as described by the speaker, despite the significant allocation of resources towards it. Huffman noted that the French-language Google search results now include the information, leading to an increase in website visitors. The company’s next objective is to address the Spanish language.
Reddit has been providing post-based translation since last year, supporting a total of eight languages.
Software development tools
Hearing Huffman discuss developer tools on the teleconference was weird. In July 2023, the firm became involved in a significant dispute with third-party client developers due to API modifications. The firm blacked out several subreddits in protest against the API changes.
Currently, the social network is operating in a mode that encourages polite and cooperative behaviour. Huffman said that there are intentions to develop technologies that have the potential to expand the limits of what a subreddit may include. He provided examples of current efforts, such as real-time scores shown on some sports subreddits and a live stock ticker on r/wallstreetbets, the subreddit famous for the Gamestop stock controversy.
According to him, hundreds of engineers are currently testing these new experiences. This summer, Reddit plans to expand its developer base by inviting more individuals off the waitlist to join. Additionally, the platform intends to provide revenue capabilities later in the year.
Additional notifications
In a recent agreement, Reddit and Google have partnered to provide the search engine giant with access to the social network’s data. According to Huffman, the business intends to license other companies to use their data. This has been a significant issue, sometimes generating controversy, since consumers may express reluctance to have their data used for purposes such as AI training or other prevalent applications. Huffman emphasised the organisation’s discerning and careful approach to partner selection.
The firm’s current focus is to expand its infrastructure to generate more money. Reddit is considering reintroducing virtual currency on its site, despite discontinuing gold and another blockchain-based currency called community points last year. This decision is driven by Reddit’s ability to diversify its economic strategy. During the results conference, the firm announced its intention to provide an upgraded Gold product with new programs that allow users to both spend and make money on the site.
In a recent interview with Eltrys, Reddit’s Chief Product Officer, Pali Bhat, discussed many new initiatives. Now, the firm is taking action to use these tools for further development.
