Clubhouse. Talk and listen
The Clubhouse feature that distinguishes it from other social networks is exclusively voice communication between registered users. It takes place in "rooms" - active conversations that you can join in real-time.
"Rooms," in turn, exist within "clubs." These are such thematic communities of users, or, in other words, a wide variety of interest groups (TikTok marketing secrets, NBA fan club, and others).
The social network itself offers individual users "rooms" based on the preferences that are indicated during registration. There is also a keyword search.
In the "room" you can both listen to the conversation and join it, becoming a speaker. For the latter, however, you need permission from the organizer of the conversation.
Any user can create a "room." Setting up a "club" is a little more complicated. To do this, you must have at least three organized conversations in your track record, as well as get the approval of the moderators of the social network.
Clubhouse does not provide for text communication, exchange of photos, videos, or memes. Only live communication. Recording of conversations is prohibited by the service rules.
The BBC notes that this approach creates the effect of exclusivity: every conversation is unique, there will be no second one.
How to get Clubhouse?
So far, this option is only available to iOS users.
At the end of January, the company announced that it would start working on an Android application "in the near future," however, according to 9to5Google, it could be several months or several years.
There are no specifics on this issue yet.
As for iPhone owners, today they can get into the Clubhouse in two ways.
Method 1. By invitation
Limited access is another feature of this social network, so you can only join it by a special invitation (invite) from someone who is already in the Clubhouse. In this case, a text link will be sent to your phone number, which will direct you to the registration page in the application.
It is important to note that the number of invites is limited (initially only two are available, but then more may appear), so even after becoming a user of this social network, it will not be possible to invite ten friends to it.
Method 2. Register and wait
This is a longer procedure. After installing the application on your phone, you need to reserve a nickname and wait for the approval of your registration application.
You can speed up this process by asking someone you know - Clubhouse users - to approve your application. To do this, your phone number must be in this person's iPhone address book.
Elite club and Elon Musk
Clubhouse did not immediately become famous all over the world. This relatively young social network was launched in April 2020 by two Silicon Valley entrepreneurs Paul Davis and Rohan Seth.
The Guardian reports that in May 2020 the application had only 1.500 users, while at the beginning of February this year there were already 2 million.
The coronavirus pandemic played a role in the promotion of the Clubhouse, due to which people locked in their homes began to look for new ways of online communication.
However, the real boom came earlier this month when Tesla and SpaceX founder Elon Musk spoke at the Clubhouse.
The American entrepreneur announced a "room" for his almost 47 million audiences on Twitter, after which Musk fans rushed to listen to him at the Clubhouse.
On Clubhouse tonight at 10pm LA time
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 31, 2021
The excitement around this conversation was such that the recording, contrary to the rules of the community, was even posted on YouTube. This case became a precedent because the "room" for 5,000 people (this is the maximum number of participants for one conversation) could not accommodate everyone who wanted to listen to Musk.
Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, Oscar-winning American actor and musician Jared Leto, legendary TV presenter Oprah Winfrey, Canadian rapper Drake and many other celebrities who have also joined the Clubhouse also contributed to the rapid growth in popularity of this social network.
Part of the excitement around this social network is due to the limited access to it. Who doesn't want to join something that few people can access!?
"Clubhouse managed to create around itself the atmosphere of a closed club not for everyone, which I really want to get into - if only to just look at what is happening there," BBC reports.
The other side of the Clubhouse. Disinformation
One of the first negative consequences of the rapid growth of the audience of the social network can be a decrease in the culture of communication.
With the influx of new users, it will become increasingly difficult to enforce their community guidelines. According to Vice, the social network has already begun to face one of the greatest problems of our time – disinformation.
According to the American magazine, in some "rooms" conspiracy theories are spread that the vaccine against the Covid-19 coronavirus infection is allegedly made from fetal cells (fetal material after an abortion), or about the control of humanity through 5G communication.
Prior to that, it was also reported that anti-Semitic and hate speech against the LGBT community were heard in Clubhouse's conversations.
Vice does not rule out that users who disagree with blatantly false statements may face harassment and violence.
The huge problem is that it is almost impossible to prosecute for speaking in the Clubhouse because after the "room" is closed, the conversation disappears. His post, as we have already mentioned, violates community rules and can turn into a ban.
It is currently premature to draw any conclusions about the promising future of the Clubhouse, or a possible decline in interest in it.
Now, like any other social network that has experienced rapid audience growth, Clubhouse may have strong competitors. As it was, for example, with TikTok, when at the peak of the popularity of this application, Instagram launched its counterpart – Reels.
