Reddit will shut down Dubsmash on February 22nd
Reddit will shut down Dubsmash on February 22nd, 2022. The announcement comes less than a year after Reddit acquired the TikTok-like video platform for an undisclosed sum in December 2020. Following the 22nd, Dubsmash won’t be available to download through the App Store or Google Play, nor will the app work after that date.
When Reddit first announced the acquisition, it said Dubsmash would retain its own platform and brand. “Combining forces has been a perfect match. Reddit is where passionate communities come together for timely, interactive and authentic exchanges about topics that matter to them, and video is increasingly core to how people want to connect,” the company said in a blog post.
As part of today’s announcement, Reddit is also rolling out new video features that come courtesy of the Dubsmash team. The built-in camera now includes options to change recording speeds and set a timer. Additionally, it’s now possible to upload clips in landscape, portrait mode and fill, as well as adjust and trim multiple clips at once. A new editing screen allows users to add stickers, doodles, voice-overs and filters to their clips.
The impending shutdown of Dubsmash is likely to affect creators of color most acutely. Where TikTok’s best-known stars are white, Dubsmash was particularly popular among Black and Latinx users. At the end of 2020, Reddit noted 25 percent of all Black teens in the US were on the platform. Those users now face a tough decision: they either support a platform that has been seen as a safe harbor for hate speech and misinformation or look elsewhere to find a supportive community.
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