Whether you have been scrolling through Twitter or mooching around your recent LinkedIn feed, by now you would have heard about the latest social media platform, Clubhouse. But who is the new kid on the block?
What is Clubhouse?
Only available to iPhone users, Clubhouse is a networking and real-time audio-only conversation app. The platform lets people chat in real time and join or host ‘rooms’ to share stories, collaborate, or bounce ideas off each other using only their voice.
Unlike other networks that take ‘the more, the merrier’ approach, Clubhouse is invitation-only and for those without an exclusive invite from a current member, you are put on a waitlist as soon as you download the app to your iPhone. Until recently, Clubhouse, which launched in April 2020 by two ex-Google employees, was a platform where big-name celebrities, company leaders, Silicon Valley investors, and some of the web’s top global influencers could have group conversations about their lives, hobbies, work, or industries. Now, Clubhouse boasts 10 million weekly active users, up from 600,000 in December 2020 and is valued at $1 billion.
Key features
Whether you have received an invitation or are on the waitlist, here is a short crash course on how to get around Clubhouse.
Clubhouse Rooms – A room is essentially the same as an online meeting or webinar with no video and a muted audience. You can host your own Room, drop-in and leave Rooms at any time. If you are joining a Room, you will enter as a muted listener automatically and if you’d like to speak or ask a question, you can hit the ‘Raise Hand’ icon (similar to Zoom) in the bottom right-hand corner of the app. Moderators will be notified and can ignore or unmute the attendee. The current limit of people who can be in a Clubhouse room is 5,000 people,
Clubs – Separately to Rooms, you can create or follow Clubs, which are groups of users with interest in specific topics, whether that is marketing, events, cooking, travelling – you name it. Once you join a Club, you will be notified if a Club manager has launched a Room on their chosen subject and can join in.
What is the future for Clubhouse?
There is no doubting the facts that Clubhouse is growing at an exponential rate and with the continued investment into the platform, it is only going to generate more interest. However, Clubhouse may not be alone as the only platform offering audio-only features for very long. Shortly after Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg spoke in a Clubhouse Room, the New York Times reported that his social media company was allegedly building a similar audio platform. Meanwhile, Twitter just began rolling out Twitter Spaces – a drop-in audio feature within its platform – to a small group of beta testers.
While I only received my invitation to Clubhouse a few weeks ago, I can already see the allure of dropping into conversations you wouldn’t normally be privy to. In our next Clubhouse insight, we will share ways that the hospitality and business, meetings and events industries can utilise the platform.
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