Have you heard of Clubhouse? This year-old Silicon Valley startup is an international, audio-only social media platform. The point is “to meet with friends and with new people around the world.” When you enter Clubhouse (which is currently invite-only), you can join any “room,” where you can listen to anyone. PCMag’s Jordan Minor puts it like this: “What if Twitter was a podcast you lived inside of?” On this platform, you may hear from celebrities such as Drake and Tiffany Haddish. Even Elon Musk used the app to interview Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev. With every new platform, we’ll have questions. And right now, we have two main concerns: Conversations being recorded and how it will be monetized.
Money talks
People rarely offer their talents for free these days. As of now, no one is charging people to join their rooms on Clubhouse. Users are raving about the ease of access to seasoned CEOs, wise experts and nine-figure business owners, and it’s all free. But many “moderators” and “speakers” are starting to put their Cash App handle in their bios, just in case someone wants to compensate them for their awesome chat room. What’s the future of the platform? Clubhouse has mentioned the possibility of tickets, tipping and subscriptions.
Recording conversations?
Another question is one of security. There have been complaints about hate speech and trolling on Clubhouse, so they’re getting into the Section 230 territory. They can’t get in trouble for restricting access to content that violates their guidelines. But they already have an eavesdropping scare. Users found that a new app update gives Instagram the ability to record your Clubhouse conversations. What does this mean for the future as the app opens up to more users? Check out the video below to see how to disable this feature from your Instagram account.
People create buzz around every new platform, questioning if it will have sustainable popularity and functionality. Many users love that they can make social and business connections with people all over the world. One Clubhouse user told Bold that they already have five coffee dates set up with CEOs, founders and experts that they met through the app. Another user created a room and sent a song idea out into the void. Call it serendipity, but a manager was in the room, listening, and offered a deal. The excitement and anticipation from users show that Clubhouse has the potential to take off. It will be interesting to see how this plays out in the coming months, especially as it opens up to more people.
