DUBAI: Reddit has launched a creator fund, joining a trend established by other social media platforms. 

Reddit has been experimenting with its Community Funds program “to help Reddit community ideas and passions come to life with financial support,” it said in a blog post.

“Sometimes it just takes a little boost to make a great idea come to life, and we want to help communities find that support,” said Laura Nestler, Reddit’s vice-president of community.

The experiment resulted in the funding of 13 community-nominated projects such as a comics tournament, a community-designed musical artist billboard in New York’s Times Square and a digital conference for history enthusiasts.

It is now making community funds official with $1 million in funding.

From June, Reddit communities will be invited to submit their ideas for anything from events to contests needing between $1,000 to $50,000 in funding. Reddit will select the grant recipients based on three factors: Creativity, feasibility and community impact.

Creator funds have become ubiquitous in the social media world with platforms such as YouTube, Snapchat, Instagram and TikTok launching their own versions to encourage independent creators and improve their reach and engagement.

Reddit, however, is taking a slightly different approach by encouraging community engagement rather than individual content engagement.

“Community Funds aligns with our mission of bringing community, belonging, and empowerment to everyone in the world,” Reddit said in the blog post, adding: “We believe that empowering communities to do more by awarding funds to support their best ideas is one way we can accomplish this.”