Clubhouse is now open to everyone
Clubhouse is now open to everyone. Gone are the days of chasing invites. However, back when it was invite only I had not seen so much excitement about invites to a new social media app since Google+, Ello and of course Pinterest.
The app is growing fast. In December 2020, it was valued at nearly $100 million. On January 21, 2021, the valuation hit one billion US Dollars
The clubhouse app and its various hashtags have been mentioned over 1.3 million times in social media within months of its launch, with a reach of 13 billion, and with 69,000 social media posts mentioning “Clubhouse invites”, ranging from asking for an invite to a few trying to sell them. I quote “Hi, i am selling some Clubhouse invites for 6$ each, i am trusted seller”. Now that it is open, all those sellers have to look for a new gig.
The most mentioned VIP at the launch was Elon Musk, with Paul Davison a close second who is the co-founder at Clubhouse. When Elon Musk joined the Clubhouse user base grew from 3 to 5 million within hours.
Not all the chatter about the Clubhouse app has been positive
Here are some of the negative social media comments I found about the Clubhouse app:
- “This app is just Discord but for people obsessed with themselves”
- “Clubhouse Says Reviewing Data Protection Practices After Flaws Reported”
- “#Clubhouse is a ‘pseudo liberal left loony separatists’ jamghat as of now!!”
- “No matter how you look at it, Clubhouse is quite the elitist app…, and most of the users are from the same circle”
Quora debate
In Quora the discussions are if Clubhouse is better than podcasts and can it help in boosting careers. People have started discussions about how to recover from being suspended in the app never mind asking for Clubhouse invites. The early days of Clubhouse was shadowed with debates about the Twitter clone of Clubhouse; “Twitter Spaces”.
Blocked in China
The Clubhouse app was blocked in China in the early days, as first mentioned by TechCrunch. It seemed that the Chinese-language rooms filled to over 5,000-user capacity. Topics being discussed included Xinjiang’s detention camps, Taiwan independence, and Hong Kong’s national security law. These were hot topics and not allowed on mainstream Chinese social media.
Content Moderation & Summaries
It is a worthy thought about moderating content. The app currently leaves moderation to the wisdom of the users. I was in a clubhouse room this week where the language used turned the air blue but it was a major influencer whom many had flocked to the app specifically to listen to.
In the room sessions I have joined there I find some cool aspects that I found useful, but not everything is useful. This is normal for real life conversations too of course. However, a good suggestion I saw by Sari Azout in her tweet is to have some sort of summary. Highlighting the essentials as key takeaways. Its a good point.
Clubhouse App Alternatives
Twitter Spaces
Twitter Spaces is now with us, but this was how it started:
“Twitter has purchased Breaker, per TechCrunch. The app founded in 2016. Twitter will reportedly integrate some of this tech into its Clubhouse-like rival called “Twitter Spaces,” which lets Twitter users tweet via voice and engage in real-time conversations” – eMarketer/Insider Intelligence
Facebook Live Audio Rooms
Live Audio Rooms on Facebook enable you to discover, listen in on and join live conversations with public figures, experts and others about topics you’re interested in. Public figures can invite friends, followers, verified public figures, or any listeners in the room to be a speaker. The host can invite speakers in advance or during the conversation. There can be up to 50 speakers, and there’s no limit to the number of listeners.
Spotify enters social audio with Greenroom
Spotify has launched Greenroom, a social audio app with the ability to turn live talks into podcasts.
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