Clubhouse is an audio-only app that doesn’t allow the average user to speak, yet it is outpacing downloads of other social media apps. But why?
Silicon Valley has begun the quiet expulsion of Reddit, perhaps inspired by the platform’s users not taking Wall Street seriously, and turning finance into a meme. Nevertheless, the meteoric rise of Clubhouse looks to replace that forum, somehow surpassing ten million downloads in less than a year.
Hilariously, the platform has recreated the unfair experience of its offline namesake, as the service is invite-only, and clearly, if you haven’t heard about it, well, I’m sorry, there might be a reason for that. Indeed, the app has already ticked enough boxes to blow up, possessing a huge amount of hype, super-famous users, swift bans, controversy, and an unrealistic valuation, despite not actually making any money. At the time of writing, it is beating Instagram, TikTok, Zoom and WhatsApp in downloads the world over.
With headlines like “Elon x Kanye Is The Worst Thing That Could Happen To Clubhouse” and “Clubhouse Won Over Elon Musk. Now It’s Conquering the World,” one naturally assumes the worst. But, what the hell is it?
Well, Clubhouse sticks out due to its lack of features. The app doesn’t support text, pictures or videos, and is audio-only. In fact, everything happens in real-time, and conversations are not recorded on the app, or available after the fact.
While you can start a room yourself (or join one in progress), only a certain number of people in a room can speak, but you can raise your hand, and ask if you’re allowed to speak. The benefit, apparently, is that you can listen to billionaires and celebrities conversate, like normal people, but not to normal people. So yeah, it sounds like elitist garbage to me, or a conversation at a dinner party you’ve bugged, but what do I know?
According to the BBC, the app has a “possibly unforeseen advantage is, as it has managed to avoid the restrictions some governments have placed on existing big social-media platforms. But it has already been banned in China. The news site Quartz reported Chinese Clubhouse members had been ‘using the space to talk about topics that would otherwise be censored… such as democracy’, turning the invite codes into hot merchandise. And already, copycat apps are being launched to take advantage of this perceived rise in audio social networks.”
The app is unavailable on Huawei, Samsung, LG or other Android phones. Also, iPhone users can download the app, but they can’t use it, as all conversations are currently invite-only. Hilariously, a service now exists where you pay people ($17 USD an hour) to wait in the app on your behalf, who will inform you when it is your time to participate. “We have seen that our clients are wasting hours on Clubhouse waiting for a turn to speak for 30 seconds, so wanted to offer a solution to help,” Rune Sovndahl, co-founder of Fantastic Services said in a conversation with Forbes.
“Especially during lockdown, many people have limited time – with balancing kids, homeschooling, work and other Zoom meetings – you just can’t afford to sit and wait in an app. So, we have acted quickly to provide a solution to the trend and feel this service will be incredibly popular based on trends we have experienced in the past.”
