What does Reddit's Official label mean?

Reddit is testing its own version of the blue check mark.

"Starting today, we’re beginning early testing of placing a visual indicator on certain profiles to provide proof of authenticity, reduce impersonation, and increase transparency across the platform," a Reddit admin wrote in a post. "This is currently only available to a very small (double-digit) number of profiles belonging to organizations with whom we already have existing relationships, and who are interested in engaging with redditors and communities on our platform."

The profiles that are deemed official by Reddit will have an "Official" label next to their username when their profile shows up on the site. It's kind of like the Flair on a subreddit or, if you're anywhere else online, the blue checkmark.

The goal of this is exactly what you might assume: to make it easier for users to know other users aren't impersonators. But, unlike, say, Twitter, the Official label doesn't give users any special privileges or protections and, Reddit says, shouldn't be confused with their "Promoted" label, which has been paid for.

"Official" labels aren't in their final form, though. "We’re actively working with a group of moderators to get feedback on this, and as this is an early test, the learnings we gain will inform next steps for this roll-out," Reddit said in its post. "We’ll continue to keep you updated."

Reddit also announced its rollout of Automod notification checks and its helper rewards program. Automod, which began rolling out last week, runs before post and comment reply notifications are sent out which is intended to ensure that users don't ever have the chance to see content that Automods take down. The helper rewards program rewards users with trophies and flairs when they help other users in r/help.