Reddit launches official podcast to track stories behind its most popular posts

New episodes will be released on Thursdays, as Reddit joins the post-Serial podcast trend

Reddit mascots are displayed at the company's headquarters in San Francisco, California (Reuters)

Reddit has created an official podcast to follow the stories of people behind some its most popular posts.

The podcast is called Upvoted, a reference to the system used to promote popular posts on the site, and will be released every Thursday.

It will track the people involved in popular Reddit stories to see “what happened after all the internet fame, or the life-changing comment, or even the simple kind gesture from an internet stranger”, Reddit said in a blog post announcing it.

The first episode was uploaded yesterday evening, featuring an interview from one Reddit user, and accompanied by a devoted subreddit. Comments on that page were mostly complimentary this morning.

Podcasts have returned to conversation after the record breaking success of Serial, the true crime radio show launched by This American Life.

Reddit recognised the role of Serial in promoting the new wave of podcasting — tagging the blogpost “because everyone on r/serialpodcast needs a new podcast fix”. That Reddit forum has become a place where Serial fans and amateur detectives get together to discuss the facts of the case discussed in the podcast, prompting intrigue and occasionally controversy.