Reddit is looking to implement its own voice chat feature.
The social news aggregation and discussion website is working on incorporating moderator-run voice chats onto the platform, according to a source familiar with the matter.
The insider told Mashable the feature’s development is still in its early stages, and it’s not yet known whether it will receive a site-wide rollout.
According to Gizmodo, the feature will likely come under Reddit’s new “power-ups” banner, which is an initiative the company launched last year to experiment with new subscription-based features specific to individual subreddits.
In its initial announcement, Reddit said power-ups would include features such as the “ability to upload and stream up to HD quality video,” “video file limits doubled,” and “inline GIFs in comment”.
Subreddits can unlock these power-ups after enough of their members purchase monthly power-up subscriptions, and it’s thought the voice chat feature could come under this initiative.
When the power-up function launched in August, Reddit said it wanted to hear from users for future suggestions for the banner.
In a statement, the company said: “The new experiment helps create a framework that allows us to add ‘nice to have’ features for subreddits. We are starting with a few handpicked features and expect to add more as we get input from you and the communities that have opted into our early testing.”