Launched less than a year ago, Clubhouse has recently been the topic of many online discussions around the world. Many of you may be asking: what exactly is Clubhouse? What makes it unique? Is it safe? And are leading social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook creating their own versions? Before answering these questions, it is important to understand that even before Elon Musk hosted Robinhood’s CEO Vlad Tenev in one of the Clubhouse chat rooms, Clubhouse had already been thriving. Just nine months after the social network’s launch, Clubhouse’s valuation has reached $1 billion.
Clubhouse is all the rage right now, even though it is still in beta. It’s been deemed the hottest new social media forum and is anticipated to lift social media to a higher level. In March 2020 Silicon Valley entrepreneurs Paul Davidson and Rohan Seth introduced this one-of-a-kind idea to the social media world. In essence, Clubhouse is an only-audio application that consists of chat rooms.These chat rooms are themed by a variety of topics that are categorized in the app. Users can listen or “drop-in” to discussions, interviews or conversations, whereas the room’s moderator can determine who gets to speak. Sometimes these chat rooms are held by renowned industry leaders and celebrities. Chat rooms on Clubhouse can have up to 5000 participants, like the famous Elon musk and Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev conversation that maxed out with 5000 listeners. Clubhouse is currently available only on iOS devices, but this will reportedly change as it is now being developed for Android.
Clubhouse is unique and differs from other social media platforms for many reasons. Aside from being the only audio-based social media app, Clubhouse is an invite-only platform. This means you cannot download the app and create a profile. In order to participate, you will need to receive an invitation by an existing user. Each user gets a handful of invites. Invitations are sent in the form of an SMS message from the app. According to the founders they want to grow the Clubhouse community slowly, but it is rumored to soon be available to the general public.
Another unique aspect of the app is it’s stance on free speech. Unlike restrictions and privacy policies that are imposed by platforms like Facebook and Whatsapp, Clubhouse enables its users to express themselves freely. There has been a noticeable global demand for Clubhouse because Internet users are increasingly seeking new and less restricted social networking opportunities. Because of this free-speech aspect, Clubhouse was extremely popular in China before being shut down by local authorities. It was so popular that people in China were purchasing Clubhouse invites. But this all came to an end when China banned the app due to a chat room conversation about the Uighur minority concentration camps.
Many people are rightfully wondering if Clubhouse is safe to use. Security and privacy issues continue to be a global concern to most Netizens (citizens of the net). Clubhouse has limited access to devices therefore general data security threats are relatively low. Unlike tweets or posts, Clubhouse doesn't save audio, which means that when the room ends, the audio recording is deleted. The only exception is if a user reports a Trust and Safety violation while the room is active (indicated in their privacy policy). The app doesn’t access photos, cameras or location information which means security problems are reduced to the calendar, microphone and contacts. A recent report by Stanford Internet Observatory stated that Clubhouse data protection practices contained security concerns. The Stanford Internet Observatory had confirmed that the Chinese / US tech company Agora had provided back-end infrastructure to Clubhouse. Many speculate that because of Agora’s involvement with Clubhouse the Chinese government may be able to access raw voice data from users. The report also shared concerns over chinese servers that store chat room metadata and audio. Although an Agora spokesman had no comment on association with Clubhouse, they made clear that Agora does not store or access personal data. Additionally it was said that Agora does not route voice or video-generated data through China that didn’t originate there. Clubhouse’s response to the report revealed they deliberately did not make the app available in China. The app only became available in China when users found a way to bypass restrictions, which could have led to chinese data being stored on servers in China that the government had access to.
Twitter and Facebook are racing to figure out a way to capitalize on audio-based social networks so their audiences don’t start spending time elsewhere. Twitter is already beta testing its own version of the buzzy app. In December 2020 Twitter launched a new Clubhouse-like audio feature called Spaces. Facebook, which famously clones its competitors features (Snapchat in 2016), is reportedly also working on something similar to Clubhouse. This strategic power move from two social media giants fortifies their current market share while working to nullify Clubhouse.
Clubhouse is an emerging app that gives users an opportunity to express themselves in a different way. Yet its future holds some serious challenges that range from security to competition. As a new platform in an already competitive field, Clubhouse founders will have to push the envelope in order to keep the momentum. Although Facebook and Twitter have an enormous amount of users, Clubhouse has the privacy card. So will Clubhouse be able to stand out or it will crack under the pressure like many other apps before it? We will have to wait to find out.