You have probably heard about the not-so-old social network, Clubhouse more often recently. The audio-only chat app came to light when renowned personality, Elon Musk appeared on the platform in January. The room was overflowed by the participants.
Basically, Clubhouse offers users to listen or engage in live conversations. People say, “It is like listening to a phone call”. And it is not bad as the people who are speaking want to be heard in a good way. Anyone including celebrities, social media personalities, or just normal individuals with interesting ideas can be the speaker.
The app is a strong rival for Twitter spaces, Discord stage, and Telegram which also offer audio-only service.
An upswing in the platform
Initially, the application was launched in March 2020 in the US during the first wave of Covid. Alpha Exploration Corporation founded the application for iPhone users only. The limited network consisted of a small community of venture capitalists with the invite-only feature in the early days.
To scale growth, the app needed a majority user group, Android users. Finally, the clubhouse’s Android version was launched in the Play Store in early May this year.
Android rollout continues!
🇯🇵🇧🇷 🇷🇺 Japan, Brazil & Russia coming Tuesday
🇳🇬🇮🇳 Nigeria & India on Friday AM
🌐 Rest of world throughout the week, and available worldwide by Friday afternoon— Clubhouse (@Clubhouse) May 16, 2021
As of May 11, the application has already crossed five million downloads. According to PCMag, the social platform is worth approximately four billion U.S. dollars.
How can you get into Clubhouse?
Unlike the traditional method, you can not just sign up and start accessing the services right away. Although, you can sign up to see if your friends are already in the business and ask for invites.
You need to get an invite from an existing user to access the social platform. The invitation link is sent to the phone number of the desired user. After receiving the link, the user can now sign in to the platform and enjoy the conversations.
But what about the people who do not have contacts for invites?
Well, if you belong to the same category, you don’t have to worry. With few bucks, one can buy clubhouse invites at eBay.
The app just requires information like name, mobile number, and a single profile picture to register as a user. There are no other services to post more pictures or videos.
The application requests access to the contact details of the phone to find fellow users. But skipping the step will save you from privacy issues if you don’t have any clubhouse personalities in your contacts list.
To avoid starting from scratch, there is the option of linking the clubhouse account with the user’s Twitter account.
How does the app work?
The company has not offered any other websites or desktop versions besides the mobile application. However, emulators come in handy for using such mobile programs.
After the user has signed in, he/she can follow several topics from sports to technology to world affairs. The user after following preferred topics will come across related rooms. Over time, following more topics and people present related room suggestions.
With a simple tap on the room icon, one can get into the conversation as a listener. The moderators of the room can decide to select users to join in some cases.
As a listener, you can only speak with the permission of the moderator. This is possible with the integration of the ‘Raise a hand’ feature. The moderators can simply ignore the requests as well.
A room can host up to 5000 participants at maximum.
Experts have criticized and raised privacy concerns regarding the recording of the conversation. While the Clubhouse officials state the recordings hold the sole purpose of reporting any instances of violence or abuse in the room. And the recordings are erased as soon as the room ends with no complaints.
Clubhouse destined for the long run?
The platform is surely an innovative concept in present situations. People who wanted a global audience from home have greatly benefitted from this application. Moreover, it has opened a portal to communicate ideas in the talk-show style or interview from or a speech style. Despite the privacy concerns, the app has gained a huge number of followers in a short time. Who knows, it could be the next big social network in the coming years.
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