Hey there Reddit,

We’re here to update you on the upcoming rollout of Online Status Indicators, part of an initiative intended to make Reddit feel more like a place where activity is happening in real-time vs having just happened in the past. Other components of this initiative include vote and comment count animations, and reading and typing indicators.

According to our usability testing, all of these elements have the potential to drive an increase in Redditors voting and commenting within communities, in addition to time spent on the site (ex: Redditors are more likely to subscribe to a subreddit if the number of Redditors “here now” or “online” is high). We hope that increasing participation across the board will also motivate new users and lurkers to do the same. Developing new techniques to increase engagement across the site is also a strategic business decision on our part.

Starting in March of this year, if your Online Status is set to “On,” other users will begin to see your Online Status Indicators as a green dot next to your user icon when you are online. Your Online Status indicator will only be shown to users if (1) your toggle is set to “Online Status: On” and (2) you are online on our iOS app, Android app, or desktop. Users on old Reddit and mobile web will not share their Online Status or see any other users’ Online Status. Importantly, you remain in control and can turn this feature off at any time.

Last March, we announced a test of the Online Status Indicator toggle, which allows you to see your own status. Redditors responded by sharing their concerns and questions about privacy and safety, two values we take very seriously. Based on the results of that test as well as your feedback, we have made the following changes to this feature:

(These green dots on the avatar indicate a user’s Online Status)

If you disable this feature by turning it “Off”, other users will not be able to discern your online status (i.e. no indicator or dot of any sort will appear to other users). If you choose to use this feature by leaving it “On”, a green dot will appear on your avatar next to your posts and comments only when you’re online on Android, iOS, or desktop.

• If you block another user, they will not be able to see your Online Status Indicator and you will not be able to see theirs.
• If a user is banned from a subreddit, they will not be able to see the Online Status Indicators of other users or moderators within that subreddit.
• Logged-out users will not be able to see the online status of any logged-in users.
• Online Status Indicators will not appear on profile pages.

When we first tested the Online Status toggle in March 2021, old Reddit and mobile web were included in the rollout, but we are removing both old Reddit and mobile web from this experience entirely. This means that users on old Reddit and mobile web will not share their status and will not be able to see other Redditors' Online Status Indicators. If you exclusively use old Reddit and/or mobile web, your status will not be shown to any user. Today, we removed the toggle from these platforms and will no longer be including old Reddit or mobile web in any part of this experience.

Another change from when we first tested the feature, users were set to default “Online Status: On”. Today, for all active mods, users who have reported harassment in the past 60 days, and for users who have actively contributed to identity-based communities, the toggle will default to “Online Status: Off” for those specific users who have not previously updated their toggle. All users can change their Online Status at any time, including now, with just two clicks:

iOS

https://preview.redd.it/0v2nfibdifj81.png?width=926&format=png&auto=webp&s=886207f64a3a0fda1ed3565a9ced8df609337dc6

Android

https://preview.redd.it/m2esetdeifj81.png?width=914&format=png&auto=webp&s=6a03bdb87a6e6b1bc2323bd4f64db86a62b79ca8

Desktop

https://preview.redd.it/bfphza7gifj81.png?width=1108&format=png&auto=webp&s=d3f53a1224ccda3deb1cb2a24ffc3b3149e785c1

Beginning in March, you will begin to see users who have set their Online Status Indicators to “On,” and it is our hope that you will see increased real-time conversation and engagement between users in your subreddits.

Thank you to everyone who weighed in on the test of this feature last March, and, as always, we look forward to hearing your questions and feedback.

Hi everyone!

We’re excited to announce the launch of a new video player on Android. Starting tomorrow, when Android users tap on a video in their feed, the video will open in a new full-screen player. Users will be able to read comments and watch videos simultaneously and swipe up to see more recommended videos.

https://preview.redd.it/vpn0g3sjsgf81.png?width=1080&format=png&auto=webp&s=ca29cd0ab518d97ea87c5e9105d1b87c3544cb43

https://preview.redd.it/a4fqwsrjsgf81.png?width=1080&format=png&auto=webp&s=761dfeb1886b76dce7767acf6e6e8688b72ca3de

https://preview.redd.it/9du8rsrjsgf81.png?width=1080&format=png&auto=webp&s=72b50a6e16927f7f3ca63c3ec7bb1fd43925803f

You may have noticed that this is the same video player that launched on iOS a few months ago. From a UI standpoint, it is. However, the algorithm powering the video recommendations has improved and will continue to get better throughout this year. In the past, there have been many video players through the Reddit ecosystem, and this is the latest step in uniting the players across the mobile apps.

We want to acknowledge that we still have UI refinements to make, new features to add, and performance issues to address. Your feedback has been greatly appreciated, and we’re taking a methodical and holistic approach to ensure we solve these pain points. As soon as the new Android video player rolls out this week, we will begin experimenting with even more improvements. We’re excited for all the new things coming to Reddit video in the next few months and can’t wait to share more details soon.

As always, please share your feedback and suggestions here. We’ll hang around for a while to read through and respond to comments.

TL;DR: Profile headers on the official apps have a new look. You can add up to 5 social links to your profile (but you don't have to if you don't want to). We're still rolling out the feature, so if you haven't gotten access to it yet, you will over the next few weeks.

Hi everyone,

Today, we are excited to announce a new look to profiles for the official iOS and Android apps. Additionally, we have shipped a new feature that enables you to add links to your profile that will not take up precious bio character limit space. With this launch, we are taking one step forward in making profiles a place where redditors have the opportunity to share all facets of themselves with the Reddit community.

The visual change to profiles is primarily in the profile header — you’ll notice that the Posts, Comments, and About tabs remain unchanged.

The change is still being rolled out incrementally, so some of you may not see it just yet. Over the next few weeks, it will become available to all users on Reddit.

The previous profile experience

The new profile experience, with social links added

The new profile experience, without any social links

Some things to note about the new links feature:

• You can add up to 5 links to your profile at this time
• There are a list of different platforms to choose from, but you can also choose to enter a custom URL
• Links can be reordered via drag and drop (i.e. you will not have to delete and re-add in order to change the position of your links)
• You don’t have to use it if you don’t want to!

As a friendly reminder, in profile settings, you’re able to add a display name to your profile (if you want something other than your username to show up), and can add an image to your profile header as well!

Adding a social link on the edit profile screen

Editing an existing social link

Reordering social links via drag-and-drop

Deleting a social link

If it's available to you, give it a spin and let us know if you run into any bizarro bugs or issues. If you don't see it yet, hang tight — it's coming! We’ll stick around a bit to answer any questions.

TL;DR

We’re back with more exciting updates! The new search results page designs are live for 100% of redditors on the web. (Check out the new look, results tabs, and Safe Search toggle, and let us know what you think). iOS and Android design updates are in the works, so expect to see them by the end of the year. Finally, improvements to relevance and comment search are coming soon.

Updated design for the web

Two months ago we told you about how search is getting a new look and after getting your feedback and iterating on the design, today it’s live to 100% of redditors on desktop. Here’s what changed:

• Simplified the look and feel of the search results page.
• Prioritized posts over other content types.
• Defaulted the tabs to put posts first.
• Added a Safe Search toggle that allows redditors who have confirmed that they’re over 18 to control if they see Not Safe for Work (NSFW) search results on a search-by-search basis. We want to make it easier to control whether NSFW content shows up in your search results.

- If you haven’t confirmed that you’re over 18 or you’re logged out, you won’t see the toggle.
- If you have confirmed that you’re over 18, all new searches will default to Safe Search and won’t show NSFW results.
- If you turn off Safe Search, it stays off for 30 minutes before it turns on again.

Try it out and tell us what you think. Here’s a preview:

​

https://preview.redd.it/ql0ybm8s70z71.png?width=932&format=png&auto=webp&s=7e90ce6813f723b594dd199abe89160d1df365da

We also want to give a quick shoutout to everyone who has given feedback on the updates through comments or via Google forms—we read through all your answers and they’ve helped inform what we work on. So keep sharing your thoughts and we’ll use them to help prioritize the next round of work.

While our desktop engineers have wrapped up these updates, the iOS and Android teams have also been working on bringing the new UI changes to our native apps. Here’s what it looks like so far:

https://preview.redd.it/eo1mvoau70z71.png?width=942&format=png&auto=webp&s=561141e6989fd274f7f698b761370e8090f74840

Improvements and new features that are coming soon...

Relevance improvements

The results page looking great certainly helps, but it needs to give you the results you're looking for. With that in mind, we're continuing to work hard to improve relevance as well, and we have some really exciting updates on this front that are making results better every day. We recently launched an experiment that boosts posts that others have already clicked on to the top of the search results, which gives redditors content they’re looking for more often.

More specifically, our experiment analysis showed a statistically significant increase in the percentage of searchers finding a post and staying there for 15+ seconds, as well as people clicking on posts higher up on the search results page. This change just rolled out yesterday, and we'll continue to improve results with more relevance experiments like this one.

Comment search

Ever wanted to find that really good advice thread you read a couple days ago? What about a specific answer you got from a fellow redditor in a community you visit all the time? In early 2022, for the first time in 15 years, this will be possible.

Here’s a sneak peak of what comment search might look like:

​

https://preview.redd.it/1q5byhpv70z71.png?width=934&format=png&auto=webp&s=d02e1b05ea206b71733bbe6451a060f83d7ec00f

​

https://preview.redd.it/z85lxizw70z71.png?width=920&format=png&auto=webp&s=d976f3e2eef3c1860285e23d0757144b573e7ad8

Of course this will be our very first attempt at making comments searchable, so we will continuously be making improvements to relevance and the overall experience. But we’re excited for this first step and to see how redditors use it.

A new API

You might not have noticed, but Reddit’s search API hasn’t changed all that much over the years. But no more. This month we’re rolling out a new GraphQL powered API.

Don’t know what that means? It means that search will be faster and more reliable, and allow us to test and build new features more quickly. Do know what that means? Keep a look out for an engineering blog post about the details soon.

And that’s the update! We’ll be sticking around for a bit to hear your thoughts and answer questions. Thanks for reading!

​

https://reddit.com/link/qkfod7/video/ardajysmyzw71/player

Hey there redditors,

Today, we’re thrilled to announce a fun partnership in collaboration with Riot Games… to introduce new Arcane League of Legends-inspired avatars! Check out the new releases of Vi and Jinx avatars now, and make sure to keep an eye out for weekly Arcane avatar drops featuring new gear and characters from the show.

Jinx and Vi avatar characters (and more...)

League of Legends’ Arcane, is coming to Netflix on November 6th, and the new Arcane avatars will drop every week starting today, Nov. 1st until Nov. 22nd. Visit your profile and tap the Style Avatar button to see the new gear or visit https://www.reddit.com/avatar now.

​

Vi in Reddit’s avatar builder

Avatars were first introduced back in 2015 and then in 2020 custom avatars complete with great hair, facial expressions, fun gear and accessories, and other elements that let redditors express their identity entered the world. Now in 2021 and moving into the next year, we’ll continue to evolve avatars to create new ways for redditors to show their individuality, distinction, and prestige on Reddit. Creating gear inspired by League of Legends’ Arcane is one thing we’re exploring, but keep an eye out for more.

Enjoy the new gear and let us know what else you’d like to see. We’ll be sticking around to answer a few questions and hear your ideas. To learn more, please visit our corporate blog post here.

Happy National Cat Day! Today, the 29th of October, is a day to dream about, marvel at, and celebrate the lives of cats and raise awareness about cat adoption. And since cats are such a big part of the Reddit community, we thought we’d help spread the word by creating a few fun purrrks to help redditors and our many Reddit cat communities celebrate this most momentous of all days.

​

​

https://preview.redd.it/sw3rkq09ofw71.png?width=2926&format=png&auto=webp&s=5fdb0021deac17ce44b84edd734190c2daf2a0d7

​

• FREE cat awardsGo all in on cats today and recognize posts and comments you appreciate with some a free cat award.
  • To get your free award, keep an eye out for an alert on the Reddit coins store saying you have a free award. Then claim your free cat award and distribute it as you see fit. (If you don’t see an alert, it may have been because you’ve recently used your free award. Stay tuned for our next free award if that’s the case!)
• New cat avatar gearOutfit your avatar in some pawesome avatar gear, inspired by our furry friends.
• Cat-a-day calendarMake cats a part of your day, by adding the Reddit cat-a-day calendar widget to your phone. (Sorry, this one’s only available on iOS.)

And if you’re looking for some premium cat content, take your new gear and awards over to your favorite cat communities. Not sure where to start? Here are a few you can check out: r/scrungycats, r/catswithjobs, r/chonkers, r/StuffOnCats, r/CatsStandingUp, r/catssittingdown, r/thecatdimension, r/StuffOnCats, r/CatTaps, r/TheCatTrapIsWorking, r/catpictures, r/Catloaf, r/catsonglass, or r/FromKittenToCat.

But the best way to celebrate is to save a life! So while you enjoy the day and celebrate our furry feline friends consider adopting a cat from your local shelter.

And just for fun, let’s take a look back at some of the historic cats that have blessed Reddit with their presence over the years…

​

​

​

https://preview.redd.it/wog5fxzdofw71.png?width=2938&format=png&auto=webp&s=20c965f3a1e7d1c60d0f854a18c7f72e39786972

​

​

https://preview.redd.it/p1dxp7hgofw71.png?width=2936&format=png&auto=webp&s=fabe192532fe0ac2abe37cf538776da4172ff3f0

​

​

https://preview.redd.it/ws2gt9miofw71.png?width=2926&format=png&auto=webp&s=ead1073eef075f3d76cf7357da420ccedb1b45b0

​

​

https://preview.redd.it/40ammc6mofw71.png?width=800&format=png&auto=webp&s=ad9e95e940ae4c1f1f0b622bc10afc05ed5eed77

​

​

https://preview.redd.it/vzv6gg3oofw71.png?width=700&format=png&auto=webp&s=a8a879335aaad3934e486c770baffe9db272ec26

​

​

https://preview.redd.it/bcc0c2spofw71.png?width=2936&format=png&auto=webp&s=7570368d97eda9b54e9a171e7f61a1ca47746935

​

​

https://preview.redd.it/9zls11erofw71.png?width=2926&format=png&auto=webp&s=630abdfd66e882b76fa51449cb1f2aed827635cc

​

​

https://preview.redd.it/j796twvsofw71.png?width=2926&format=png&auto=webp&s=576964238db85d9d3856bd68875be0dd5906beea

edit: clarified how the free kitties work

edit the second because I broke things and really can't be trusted with a computer

Hello Reddit

Happy Spooktober to those that celebrate. This week we’re excited to announce that we’re bringing an old feature back, for a new and improved experience.

A quick history lesson

Three years ago we discontinued view counts on posts due to scaling issues that we were experiencing on the site, and at the time, many Redditors were frustrated with that decision. I’m happy to report that we solved the previous scaling issue and because of that, we’re bringing view counts (and more) back to posts. Similar to Paul Bearer resurrecting the Undertaker in SummerSlam 94, we’re resurrecting post views for our new Creator Statistics experiment.

Creator Statistics

For this experiment, we will be opting in 50% of desktop users and moderators on the redesign and providing them with greater insights into the engagement their posts receive (see below for what this user experience will look like). For this early iteration of the feature, we plan on displaying total post views, the upvote rate, community karma, and total shares.

Please note that these statistics will only be available to OP and moderators on posts within their own communities. We've built this because we hope that providing Redditors with better visibility into their post’s performance will encourage greater participation amongst our users and because we've heard from users that this would be a valuable feature. We strongly believe that arming our moderators with this additional information will better assist them in curating, growing, and developing their communities (our moderator council also echoed this sentiment when we previewed this feature with them).

https://preview.redd.it/ntmto717ror71.png?width=600&format=png&auto=webp&s=bd215c72e2c244b87d1d1607161611c575376dc0

The future of Creator Statistics

Should things go according to plan during this initial experiment and we see an increase in positive engagement amongst users, we have greater ambitions for what Creator Statistics could look like in the near future.

Along those lines, we’ve been working closely with our moderator council on additional statistics that would be of interest to both users and moderators (thank you to them for their feedback!). Statistics could potentially include things like informing OP/mods where the traffic on posts is originating from, native integration into RPAN, and the ability to opt-in/out of this feature.

Feedback & questions

We haven’t finalized any of these decisions, and while we’re still in the experimental phase of this feature we would love to hear from all of you on other statistics or pieces of information related to post engagement that would be of interest to each of you. Please let us know in the comments below in addition to any other questions that you might have.