There is no other social media app currently hotter than Clubhouse. But what is all this about and is the hype justified?
This social media app has been around since Thuringian Prime Minister Bodo Ramelov spoke at the hotly debated club debate. Even if their concept may be promising, there is something to criticize for.
Instead of images, videos, comments and likes, the Clubhouse app has only virtual “rooms”. Topical discussions are often held here, to which you can join or subscribe to them. So far you have received an invitation. Because until now it was only possible to join the club if someone received an “invitation” from a member of the club. The exclusivity of the invitation principle is undoubtedly one of the reasons for the growing hype.
The application should provide exchange between people pursuing the same interests. In addition to virtual dashboards and podcasts, a new form of open discussion with experts has emerged. With the clear sound feature, like-minded people can spontaneously exchange ideas and make connections. It seems to have hurt a lot of people, especially during the time of the Crown.
Networking can also take place indoors. The application has different roles for users: moderators who lead discussions and can turn users into presenters. Speakers who can participate in discussions and speak. And listeners who can follow every discussion without contributing. If you would like to contribute, you can signal the moderators to make an oral contribution with the click of a button. In addition, discussions can be scheduled in advance and announced to a large number of users using the calendar feature.
Even if the clubhouse has only recently become a topic of conversation in Germany, it is not entirely new. It came online a year ago and was valued at a whopping $ 100 million in May 2020, even though there were only 1,500 registered users. There are currently about 600,000 active users. Clubhouse was developed by founders Paul Davison and Rohan Seth with their Alpha Exploration Co. Davison has already made headlines with his invention of the Shorts photo app. She asked users to make her entire photo library available to everyone. The service no longer exists.
Not everyone is welcome at the Clubhouse
Exclusivity applies not only to the invitation principle, but also to the operating system. Because the application only works with the iOs operating system, that is, with the iPhone. Android users, by contrast, look completely into the phone. The exclusion of a significant part of the population that cannot afford an expensive Apple product is, of course, in question. Anyone roaming the Clubhouse’s virtual rooms will quickly notice that the exception is intentional.
Sharing with the greats of politics, music, business or technology and start-ups involves an intimacy and a sense of belonging to a particular community. Unsurprisingly, some people talk about the Clubhouse as a new meeting place for elites, where they can be among themselves, away from annoying, hated users and Twitter exchanges.
But the app doesn’t just pre-exclude Android users. Because if you want to participate in discussions at the Clubhouse, you must always be there live. Therefore, it is necessary to take the time to listen and express your opinion, which many people cannot find, for example, through a paid job or a caregiver job.
A purely audio based app means that people who are deaf or hard of hearing cannot participate either. As long as the exclusion principle of many who adhere to the principle of exclusivity persists, the application should continue to be viewed critically. Especially when the app is praised as a platform for exchanging views, discussing and engaging in discourse in the pre-election year of 2021.
Another criticism is related to the lack of moderation by the operator in virtual rooms. Sadly, hate and insults are ubiquitous on social media these days and are not limited to the club. The operator does not intervene in discussions as a moderator, and there is no way for users to report violations directly on the platform. According to recent reports, this issue should be addressed with new reporting features and our own community guidelines. How the implementation actually works remains to be seen.
