Reddit has announced Reddit Original Video, a YouTube channel for Reddit through which the website will post original content.
The news site, which is referred to as "the front page of the Internet," has hired two video producers to create original content based on stories that originate on the website.
"Something that gets me really excited is being able to work with the community. I think Reddit has the smartest, most witty community on the Internet," said Stephen Greenwood, one of the video producers. "We'll be aiming to tell some of the best stories that have happened on the platform and because of the platform."
Reddit Original Video was announced at TechCruch's Disrupt conference in New York, at which Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian also discussed why Reddit succeeds as a platform while the likes of Digg failed.
"The one thing we got right is that we knew we were a platform for communities," said Ohanian. "Digg was always one community ...The inevitability we saw was that there would be fewer people who would come to that one front page."
The videos will include a mixture of both long- and short-form, stories and episodes. Perhaps the most anticipated format will be Reddit's AMA (ask me anything) in video form. AMAs have been growing in popularity, with celebrities and notable figures in many different genres and professions participating. These include the likes of Bill Gates, Will Ferrell and even President Barack Obama. Reddit AMAs will make up the company's first series of videos. As far as who will participate in the videos, Ohanian has said that he would like to see the likes of Kanye West, Kim Kardashian, Jay Z and the Pope do AMAs.
It is currently uncertain how Reddit Original Video will embrace the idea of serving multiple communities, however, it is likely that the platform will start out small. One thing that the new channel will have going for it is the fact that it will produce content based on that submitted by users of Reddit.
Reddit was first started in 2005 and is now garnering a massive 160 million page views per month. As a company, it has undergone a lot of change over the past few years, including a shake-up in executives and a move of its entire staff to San Francisco.
Reddit was widely criticized last year, when hundreds of private photos depicting nude celebrities were leaked to 4chan and then to Reddit. Ohanaian took the opportunity at Disrupt to take a stand against revenge porn.
The first video posted to Reddit's YouTube channel can be found below, and it explains Reddit Original Video a little more.
