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FP Staff Jun 21, 2021 19:08:23 IS
In a year during which most of the world has been locked up in their homes and glued to their devices in one way or another, whether to make a living, stay connected and informed, or just to survive, has taken over. even the fatigue with the screens. Clubhouse takes advantage of just this void left by a visually heavy virtual experience for internet users by cutting the clutter as an audio-only app that requires no text or images in any form to communicate.
Here’s everything you need to know about why Clubhouse is the internet and cultural buzzword of the moment and why you should (or shouldn’t) get on it.
The origins and rise of the Clubhouse
Founded in March 2020 by Silicon Valley entrepreneurs Paul Davison and Rohan Seth of Alpha Exploration Co. as an iOS app and by invitation only, Clubhouse has gradually garnered acclaim and has become one of the most talked about social media platforms in less than a year since its launch In April, Bloomberg reported that the tech startup was looking to raise funds from investors in a round that would bring its valuation to an impressive $ 4 billion, up from $ 1 billion in December 2020.
Clubhouse was introduced to Android users in May 2021, but has continued to keep its invitation-only warning.
According to the app, it has more than 10 million active users every week, with over 300,000 rooms created every day, and the average user spends more than an hour a day on the platform. According to CEO Davison, Clubhouse has seen an increase in the number of use and installation since its launch of Android, with millions more “on the waiting list”.
How does it work?
To give your eyes a break, Clubhouse only focuses on audio via moderated chat rooms where people exchange ideas and opinions. Imagine a live podcast, if you want, with just the added option of listeners joining the conversation.
The presence of a host or moderator makes exchanges leaner and less chaotic, as participants will have to “raise their hand” before being allowed to speak from the host, otherwise the host may even silence them. The invitation-only nature of the app gives it an exclusivity enjoyed by platform users. Also, not everyone is required to speak if they don’t want to; they can also “go away in silence” in case they find the conversation in a chatroomhumdrum or problematic.
Why do people talk about it?
The Clubhouse, like other social media, works according to the FOMO principle. However, it grants its users the benefits of being as engaged or disengaged as they wish to be with it, letting it play in the background as they go through their day and life.
It also helped the platform that within a year of its launch, Clubhouse has already managed to garner celebrity support with the likes of Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, Drake, Jared Leto, Kevin Hart and Oprah Winfrey, among others, by tuning in on it interact with your fans on topics of interest to them.
On January 31, Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk made his debut (and so far his only appearance) on Clubhouse to discuss GameStop’s commercial fever, the COVID-19 vaccine, the colonization of Mars, dogecoin and bitcoin. memes and monkey brains just to send user traffic soared, as the main chat room had peaked at 5,000 within minutes, leading to the formation of overflow secondary rooms. Likewise, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg also went to Clubhouse to discuss the technology and its future earlier this year.
(There are chat rooms where couples go on a date at the Clubhouse and have listeners tuned into their conversation, including a mental health professional who later makes their verdict on it.)
However, according to a report by Quartz, the app had its moment of glory even before its famous testimonials came aboard, when in 2020, a group of black creators held a production of The Lion King Clubhouse. December 26, with chats reaching full-house status every time they hit their maximum capacity of 5,000. His public auditions held in November were also very popular.
The event was organized by a group of black creators, which includes guitarist and music director Bomani X, whose face appears on the app icon. According to the report, Clubhouse downloads nearly doubled in the four days following the production staging of The Lion King. Their efforts have greatly helped the platform diversify its user base, which at first was largely filled with tech enthusiasts.
How did India warm up at the Clubhouse?
According to a report by The Indian Express, since Clubhouse entered the Android market in May 2021, the app has surpassed six million downloads by Android users alone, including more than one million in India.
The founders said that as part of their expansion plans in the country, they wish to implement language support on the app, so that users in the region can continue to reap its benefits in their native languages. India is such a diverse and dynamic country and we have been blown away by the incredible creativity since we came out on the market. We are thrilled to support creators through the expansion of our Creator First program in India and look forward to seeing exciting creators from all parts of the country, they told The Indian Express.
However, the platform has already encountered problems with trolling, identity theft, and fake profiles in the country, with Indian Malayalam film industry celebrities such as Nivin Pauly, Dulquer Salmaan, Prithiviraj Sukumaran, and Suresh Gopi calling out fake profiles created in their name. They made it clear that they are not members of the Clubhouse.
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Perhaps unsurprisingly, at a time when people have more free time as most continue to work from home, Clubhouse’s novelty of detaching from their screens while staying informed of the world’s offerings may be dismissed by few.
The platform has undoubtedly triggered a cultural shift by prompting tech giants like Twitter and Facebook to develop similar properties, with the former already testing its new “Spaces” feature a Twitter audio chat room in which up to 10 users would be allowed to talk to an unlimited number of viewers.
Therefore, perhaps it is not too early to say that the future is audio.
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