-after-ringing-a-b.jpeg?trim=0,0,0,0&width=1200&height=800&crop=1200:800 "Is Reddit going behind a paywall? Website bosses hint at new ‘paid subreddits’ feature – UK Times")
Reddit may start putting parts of its platform behind a paywall this year, the social media site’s chief hinted in a new video.
The content aggregation platform is currently “working on” a feature to enable some members of its communities – which it calls subreddits – to create “content that only paid members can see”, Reddit chief Steve Huffman said.
“It’s a work in progress right now, so that one’s coming … We’re working on it as we speak,” Mr Huffman said during a videotaped “ask me anything” (AMA) session on Thursday.
He confirmed in the video that “paid subreddits” are being planned as a “key feature” on Reddit for rollout in 2025.
The paywalled communities are expected to be specific subreddits requiring subscriptions, turning them into premium spaces where creators can monetise their content.
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Reddit’s plans for pricing such communities, and its criteria for which subreddits qualify for paywalls remain unknown.
The timeline for the rollout of paid subreddits is also unclear.
Mr Huffman said the company also plans to introduce a new AI feature on the platform this year which would summarise search results as well as features that would lay the groundwork for an eventual Reddit marketplace.
The move signals Reddit’s shift to diversify its revenue streams, capitalising on its vast user-generated content in line with a similar trend followed by platforms like X (Twitter) and Discord to incentivise content creation.
It also comes following the announcement of Reddit’s Q4 2024 earnings results.
Reddit said it made an income of $71m (£56m) for the quarter ending 31 December with a net loss of $484.3m last year.
It also notably missed its global daily active unique users target by two million – a drop that Reddit attributed to Google changing its search algorithm.
Reddit has been attempting to diversify its revenue streams by licensing its content to tech giants like Google and OpenAI to train their artificial intelligence algorithms.
The deal with Google valued at about $60m highlights Reddit’s recognition of user-generated content as a valuable resource for training AI models.
“We are still talking to some of the big players,” Mr Huffman said last week.
He said in August that the platform, which currently hosts over 100 million daily active users, would “continue to exist and grow and thrive” even with paywalled content.
