Both sites are centered around the discussion of a link or topic. Reddit is mainly about submitting links, but the real social aspect is about the discussion around a link.

Branch is basically the same, but maybe even better. The latest complaint from reddit's users is about the misplaced focus on user, post, and comment karma[1]; Branch does away with that, and the value of a branch is only measured by the amount of discussion in it. People can "branch off" of a certain piece of a branch to discuss about that.

It's certainly a long way until Branch has the type of community that reddit has, but it might get there.

[1] reddit.com

Thanks for adding me to the branch Daniel. Branch seems like an awesome system and I'm excited to check it out. :D

Dafuq is this?

Awesome. Awww yeag.

yeah, even.

Cool idea. Decent appearance. Can't imagine it'll have any user retention outside of a month.

Reddit did. I think Branch has a real shot at succeeding. People are looking for a new Reddit, much like they looked for a new Digg.

The thing that has bugged me so far regarding Branch is not being accepted into branches I ask to participate in. I see many others being added, and yet I'm not, and am not really sure why I'm not.

No karma. No cats either.

Not reddit.