Reddit Rolls Out Video Hosting

Reddit is beefing up the platform’s content sharing capabilities, adding a new video player for users to post videos and gifs. The tool is an extended rollout of a beta version Reddit tested earlier this year.

The company announced Thursday the video feature will make it “easier than ever” for users to upload and share video content within the Reddit community. In a blog post, Reddit called the move to hosting native videos and ramping up user-generated content on the website a “giant step” in their efforts.

Video hosting will let redditors to post up to 15 minutes of content. Files can be uploaded in an MP4 or MOV format, and users can also record new videos within the Reddit app. To turn a piece of video into a gif, users can tap into the site’s native gif converter. The mobile app also lets users trim video and gifs.

Along with the launch, Reddit introduced a video-viewing feature similar to Facebook that allows users to continue watching a video while scrolling down a thread.

“We’ve found that native video doesn’t merely improve the content creating process; it offers a unique new format for expression and interruption-free engagement once the post is live,” said Reddit in a blog post.

This launch marks a significant departure from the old ways of posting video content to Reddit that had users uploading videos to third-party sites then copying and pasting those links to the platform. The native video cuts out the middleman, streamlining the way users share and engage with video content.

“Our video adopters so far have been creating and sharing videos to engage within their specific Reddit communities, as an organic extension of conversations already happening on each subreddit,” said Reddit.

Reddit called the addition of video hosting a “massive undertaking,” as the company asked for feedback from the Reddit community during testing before launching video hosting capabilities across iOS, Android and desktop at once.

In July, Reddit raised $200 million in funding, pushing the value of the trending content site to $1.8 billion.