Whatever the reasoning for its inception, the Discovery tab does add something novel to the platform. Rather than showing a collection of random posts, the feature uses a trainable algorithm to compile its seemingly-endless list of suggestions.
Here’s what to know about Reddit’s Discover feed and how to use it…
How to Use Reddit’s Discover Feed
Before you begin your discovery session, you should ensure that your Reddit app is up-to-date. Because Discover is new, the feature won’t appear in outdated versions of the application.
Once you have your software in order, you’re ready to unearth some new Reddit content. Here’s how to use the Discover feed:
Launch the Reddit mobile app. Tap the Discover (compass) button. Scroll for hours and forget to tend to your basic needs.
From the top menu bar, you can choose specific categories—including Art, Memes, and Food—to generate a more targeted feed. In its most natural state, Discover shows posts from communities that loosely relate to others you’ve joined and content you’ve viewed.
The ability to train the algorithm separates Reddit’s new feed from other content discovery methods. If you see a post that you like or dislike, you can long-press the appropriate item and select either Show more posts like this or Show fewer posts like this. At this stage, the action doesn’t seem to work on GIFS or videos.
Discover replaces the Subscriptions tab on the app’s bottom menu bar. You can, however, still access a list of subscribed communities by swiping left to right on any of your main feeds. If you use an alternative app to access Reddit, you likely won’t see the new feature yet.
Is Reddit’s Discover Feed Coming to Desktop?
Reddit’s fresh Discover feed integrates nicely into the mobile app, but the company has left web users with only antiquated ways of finding new content. If the new feature is a success—meaning it keeps more users engaged—perhaps we’ll see Reddit add something similar to the desktop site.
