The chats are also easier to access - users just click on the “Start Chatting” option at the top of the community’s page to generate a new small group chat.
When users click the Start Chatting button, Reddit matches them up with other members of the same community that are online and interested in chatting. “This is the most connective feature that Reddit has added in light of COVID-19, and we’ll continue to introduce products that bring together and inform users in a beneficial way, so that we can all get through this together,” Alex Le, vice president of product and community at Reddit, said in a statement. Rather than serve as a chat room for all members of a community, Start Chatting is designed for more “intimate” discussions with smaller groups. The new Start Chatting button differs from existing chat rooms in a few key ways.
Since January, Reddit’s existing chat tool has spiked by 80 percent.