Only this morning, we got a tweet on Blogchatter saying everything we have been doing here in 2021 has felt personal and well curated.
Cut to it is the afternoon and I'm learning about this new thing called Clubhouse and trying frantically to Google and read the tweets to understand what the heck it is.
What is Clubhouse app?
Think of two of your favourite people [Mr Darcy and Iron Man] who are conversing on a Zoom call and you're able to tune into their conversation, listen to what they have to say and just be an exclusive part of this call with these two giants. That is what Clubhouse app allows you to do. It rose into prominence because Elon Musk used it once. And from 1,500 users and $100 mn worth, it shot up to 2 million users and a valuation of $1 bn. So obviously, eveyone is talking about it - or finding out about it from this article!
How does Clubhouse app work?
Unlike regular social media platforms where all you need is an email ID to create an account, Clubhouse has an added level of exclusivity. This means it's an invite-only app. So you will need to know someone, who knows someone, who perhaps knows someone else who can send you an invite.
But is this exclusivity a good thing? Here's what Twitterverse has to say.
What do people who have access to the app have to say?
We reached out to a few people who have been used this app for a while and asked them to give us mere mortals an insight into what they thought worked best for them.
Aditi Kumar Mathur, Author, TEDx speaker said,
People are essentially talking on the phone, there are no edits, no advertising (not directly, at least) and while the experts talk, a lot of the participants just listen and occasionally ask questions. It is a good way to gain more insight into various topics, from fin-tech to art and craft to wellness to politics. The direct access to industry leaders and craft specialists is a big draw for me, personally.
Aditi also mentioned how bigger social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter have been testing audio formats so it'll be interesting to see how Clubhouse manages that competition. If you too, like us, have tried to upload a podcast on social media and been unable to do so, you know the frustration!
Considering how trolling on Twitter has become akin to a job description of some handles, Sameer Sewak, Pilot turned Chef makes a very relevant point in favour of Clubhouse app:
What seems cool to me is how it has moderators, speakers and listeners so it has a hierarchy & saves the conversation being bulldozed by trolls like you can on Twitter. Also sometimes words can be taken out of context on text based apps cause you don’t know in what tone someone said something but an audio only social media app removes that possibility.
Kiran, Author, TEDx speaker, who is two days old on the app has a cautionary word when we asked her if she, as an author had discovered its use:
I'm two days old. Yesterday I dared speak on it for the first time. I think it gives me conversations during the pandemic that I enjoy, being deprived of them for over a year. But having said that, there seems to be a fair bit of randomness which might feel like a waste of time when you're listening.
Well it makes sense - how many times have you had a work call that has meandered into a discussion of books, shows and movies? No? Just me then? Well you're not doing calls right is all I can say! Kiran also said that she loved the spontaneity of Clubhouse, much like a conversation in a loved college adda.
But Gaurav here makes an excellent point too - exclusivity works until you're dealing with lower numbers. If you're in a room with your favourite author with 5 other people, it is cool, but then that 5 becomes 50 and then 500 and suddenly, it makes less sense to be 1 in 500.
What do you think?
Now here's my question for you - Facebook groups, in a way, help us do what Clubhouse is perhaps hoping to do. So would you go running after someone who can get you an invite to Clubhouse? Do you see it like an exclusive live podcast that adds meaning to your commute or life in general or do you see it as another app that will live and die an obscure death?
And if you had to make a Clubhouse room, who would you pick?
Comments
Wow..just came to know about it. Thanks for sharing this.
Learnt something new. With so many social media apps, I am usually like a lost child... :-)
Interesting, now I was actually unaware of this app( blaming it on my age). One thing which stood out was when you said you needed an invite from someone. I remember a time(again blame the age) when Gmail was in nascent stage and u needed an invite( Yahoo!!!). I agree with the fact that in low volumes it will work but when u have junta here, it is easy to descend into anarchy!
Clubhouse app has been quite the buzz word especially amongst the podcasting community online. I agree there is a level of randomness and it takes a lot of time to actually be able to extract some value from the conversations happening even if you're in the niche/room of your choice. However in the conversations related to podcast, there's always some amount of new information that one can get because the people talking are experienced in the field of podcasts and have been doing it from years. So be it echo issues or sponsors you'd get an answer. Cons: time consuming, difficult to get what you are there for.
Dr. Rahat Sayyad I agree with you :)