The American social network Reddit arrives in France and joins forces with Le Figaro

Reddit, the self-proclaimed “first page of the internet”, is a web juggernaut. Founded in 2005, this American social network allows its users to meet and exchange within thematic communities. The platform is particularly known for its forums on cryptocurrencies, news or photos of cute animals. Its atypical functioning has allowed it to climb into the shortlist of popular social networks that have endured for the long term. The platform now has 54 million daily active users worldwide. Half of this traffic comes from the United States.

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The company, which is preparing to go public, plans to expand further outside of North America. It targets the old continent, specifically France. “Europe is a priority in Reddit’s international expansion. With a highly engaged user base in France, we continue to build a more meaningful and localized experience for French users.” says a company spokesman. Several reasons explain this choice. One of them is the limelight that the website experienced during the “Reddit Place” or “Pixel War” in April 2022 in France. A collaborative event that prompted communities from multiple countries to confront each other. A call for support for France was relayed by several personalities on social networks. Former presidential candidate Éric Zemmour had also made himself available for the game.

Reddit remains a dwarf in France compared to other social networks. According to Médiamétrie, the website and application attracted only 2.6 million unique visitors in France in June. For comparison, Twitter has 16 million, Instagram has 35 million, and Snapchat has 26 million.

Localized Content

To seduce the French market, Reddit has decided to launch a special feature for France. Beginning August 10th, users will gradually be offered a new tab. The new feed, called “News”, is an aggregator of French press content, equivalent to Facebook News or Google News. France is the first country to benefit from localized content. Other users worldwide only have access to a feed of US items. This innovation is initially reserved for iPhone users, the Android version will not be available until the end of the year.

If he chooses press articles as a point of attack, it’s because 70% of his users connect to be informed.

“Le Figaro” now produces content that is consumed directly within these communities, for example for TikTok, Instagram or Snapchat

Bertrand Gié, deputy director of the news department of “Figaro”

For this launch, the social network was looking for partners in the French press. He joins that Figaro, which commits to sharing a selection of articles on the platform every day. In a second step, targeted content such as “Ask me something” and interviews with members of the editorial team are also offered. “We’re excited to partner with Reddit, commented Bertrand Gié, deputy director of Le Figaro’s news department. This collaboration is rooted in our new social media policy. We no longer view them as just traffic sources. Le figaro now produces content that is consumed directly within these communities, for example for TikTok, Instagram or Snapchat.This novelty should make it possible to send a new audience to lefigaro.fr.

Content from other media is also displayed on this tab, but not selected by the editors themselves. According to our information, Reddit recently formed a team to curate this content. During the testing phases, they published articles from information sites such as International mail, The obs, the world or public media. The company refuses to list the criteria for highlighting certain sites or content more than others.

However, there is still a thorny issue to be addressed: related rights. The social network considers that it is not covered by this law, “The functionality of Reddit differs fundamentally from the products covered by the ancillary copyright”. The French press disagrees and hopes to get their share of the pie.