The tool collects and organizes user data on thousands of items.
Reddit is launching a fairly unique feature called Reddit Reviews. As the name suggests, this is a section of the site that handles product reviews. Wait, is Reddit slinking into our territory? Sort of, but not really.
These aren’t traditional product reviews, as Reddit isn’t paying a team of writers to test and report on the efficacy of various items. These look to be algorithmically generated, with software that pulls data from actual users on the platform.
The toolset crawls through Reddit and “organizes product information” into “dedicated reviews.” The company says it will highlight “the most important takeaways from across our communities.” In other words, it looks for all mentions of a particular product and organizes that information into a browsable and “easy-to-digest” format.
There’s a “what people are saying” summary attached, which looks like any garden variety AI-generated summary. This is accompanied by a visual breakdown that shows readers how many conversations about the product were positive, mixed or negative.
Finally, readers can go to there are even some topic filters for those looking to get a bit granular in their search. Reddit promises that all of this information comes from real users and that “businesses can’t pay to have products featured.”
All in all, this looks like a fairly novel way to see if something is worth your money. It’s rolling out over the next few weeks on iOS, Android and the web. Reddit Reviews will feature 10,000 “frequently discussed” products at launch, pulled from various categories.
This is just the latest change for Reddit. The platform recently introduced a “For You” feed and is testing a feature that turns posts into video and audio content.
