Clubhouse is the biggest social media app you’ve never heard of. Unless you’ve had an invite.
What is Clubhouse?
Clubhouse is a completely audio-based social network, meaning it functions pretty much like a live podcast or a conference call between multiple participants . Users meet in ‘rooms’, which are sorted by topic or opened privately by users.
There are three roles in the rooms:
- Moderator – This participant manages the room and can decide who is the speaker and who are the listeners.
- Speaker – This participant can actively join in the discussion.
- Listener – This participant can only listen (a bit like people who scroll through Twitter, but never engage), but can signal the moderator if they want to say something.
And that’s about it. But can a social network based on audio really take off like Instgram has for images or Twitter for short form text?
The developers hope so, by adding an air of mystique and exclusivity to the network.
Clubhouse is currently an ‘invite-only’ network. And it’s only currently in active use by famous personalities, from pop stars to politicians, and – of course – influencers.
How does the app work?
The app is only currently available for Apple, but an Android version is in the pipeline.
So far, so good if you have an Apple device. Oh, and if you’ve been given an invitation to join.
The only way to register and join in the conversation is do so via an invitation, which usually comes from an existing user of the app.
There’s talk of this invite-only element being scrapped, but no timescales have been given yet. This does suggest that this is a task to build up curiosity and generate interest, while the app is in its infancy.
Trouble in the clubhouse?
There’s a big issue with the app where data protection is concerned – users currently have to share all contacts with the platform when they first register. This also raises major questions over whether the app is fully GDPR compliant.
There’s also some complaints over the exclusivity of the app, not least among Android users who have no access to it at all – even if they are well-connected enough to have been given an invite.
The app developers, Alpha Exploration, have explained that it wants to keep the growth in user numbers low to make it easier to iron out any bugs and have the app working at 100% before rolling it out to a wider audience.
And then there’s the issue of people using the app to spread fake news or hate speech – the scourge of all social media channels. To help tackle this, conversations are recorded by the company. But it’s anyone’s guess how effective this will be.
Here’s the login in page for Clubhouse – good luck!
