Reddit introduces ‘Start Chatting’ feature, here’s how to use it

This feature is not available for all the subreddits for now though. Reddit says it is coming to 16,000 SFW subreddits this week.

Users can visit the community and click on the ‘Start Chatting’ prompt to get matched with other members from the same community in a small group chat. (REUTERS)

Reddit is giving its users a new way of communicating to each other. It is introducing a chatroom called 'Start Chatting' that will randomly sort users from a popular subreddit into private group chats. This feature is not available for all the subreddits for now though. Reddit says it is coming to 16,000 SFW subreddits this week.

"This past month, as people around the world have been at home under various shelter-in-place restrictions, redditors have been using chat at phenomenal new levels. Whether it's about topics related to COVID-19, local news, or just their favorite games and hobbies, people all around the world are looking for others to talk to. Since Reddit is in a unique position to help in this situation, we've created a new tool that makes it easier to find other people who want to talk about the same things you do," says the Reddit blog post.

Users can visit the community and click on the 'Start Chatting' prompt to get matched with other members from the same community in a small group chat. Reddit says that it is already seeing different use cases of the new feature "including meeting new people within conversation-oriented communities, discussing cliffhangers from the latest episode in our TV show communities, or finding others to game with online."

It is possible to manage the notifications while in chat. All you need to do is to select the settings icon in the top right of the chat and turn on Mute Notifications. In case you don't want to be in chat, it is possible to leave so you won't get future messages or notifications. In case someone is harassing you in a group chat, you can report the message, block the user or leave the chat.