Shortly after announcing a plan to transition its site to a logged-in experience, Reddit is debuting a feature that could help make it more of a destination for people doing product research via the web. The company on Tuesday introduced “Reddit Reviews,” a feature that organizes conversations about products into dedicated reviews that include the highlights and key takeaways from users across its communities.
The company notes that the new experience builds on one of the ways people are already using Reddit: to learn from others what products are really like, and how they fit into their everyday lives. These first-hand accounts and recommendations can help consumers determine whether or not a particular product is right for them.
However, given the rise of generative AI and bots, it’s an area that’s also ripe for “astroturfing” — a term that refers to when a brand fakes public support. With Reddit now effectively turning what was casual online research into more of a structured product, it could become a larger target for these types of fake reviews and recommendations than before.
To address this, Reddit’s announcement points to its rules and its latest measures to combat automated abuse and spam, as well as its practice involving community moderators, as tools it will use to keep the reviews on the site legit.
The Reddit Reviews feature itself taps into AI to organize the conversations people are having where they describe their product experiences. These posts will often see users discussing how a product works for them, or why it fails, or what the trade-offs are that someone should consider before buying.
The company has been testing the product reviews feature since February, initially with U.S. users in areas like Electronics, Video Games, and Health & Beauty products. In September, Reddit expanded the test to include the Home & Garden and Fashion & Apparel categories as well.
Now, the company says Reddit Reviews is rolling out to all U.S. users on iOS, Android, and web, with an initial selection focused on around 10,000 products. Over time, it will roll out to more categories and expand beyond the U.S.
To use the feature, Reddit users can search for a product or category in the app’s search bar or click on a highlighted product name they see in someone’s comment. From there, the user is taken to a screen where important conversations are summarized under a “what people are saying” heading. This will also include a visual breakdown that shows how many of those comments are positive, negative, or mixed, and what sort of things people said they liked or disliked about the item.
For instance, a user considering buying an espresso machine might want to know about things like how much counter space it takes up or whether it’s easier for beginners to understand how to use it, says Reddit. Users can then browse the comments, filter them by topic, or click to be taken to the original conversation, where they can ask more questions or get advice.
Users can also move from one product review back to the full category to weigh other, similar products that have been discussed to compare their options, the company said.
The feature arrives just ahead of the busy holiday shopping season, when people spend a lot more time doing online product research ahead of their bigger purchases.
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