Clubhouse, an emerging social media platform born during coronavirus blocks, gave users the chance to connect through intimate audio conversations with virtual strangers, even when isolated at home.
But as the platform continues to grow, the same model that allows users to connect physically apart is raising concerns about how the application will handle the spread of incorrect information.
Unlike traditional social media platforms, where the user’s footprint is more permanent, Clubhouse chat room conversations are not recorded by the app, making it “essentially impossible” to discern the spread of false information or harassment, Emerson Brooking , senior researcher residing at the Council’s Atlantic Digital Forensic Research Laboratory, told The Hill.
“Since your words don’t follow you the way they do with a Twitter account, you feel more relaxed, and that means the app is working as intended. But, of course, that means that it also presents specific dangers, ”added Brooking.
Brooking said the Clubhouse model allows users to feel inclined to speak freely, without necessarily contemplating whether they are sharing accurate information – or the consequences of spreading incorrect information.
The Clubhouse is designed to allow users to enter and leave chat rooms focused on a variety of topics. A listener can choose to participate by virtually raising their hands, and a moderator can enable them to become a speaker in the room.
Moderators, or the user who starts the Clubhouse room, can also add or remove other speakers, allowing them to conduct the conversation.
The Clubhouse provided a platform for people to hold informal panels in a wide variety of fields, while traditional conferences and events were canceled due to the pandemic.
But the informal nature of the app has already led to reports of the dissemination of incorrect information, including the spread of false claims about the coronavirus and the coronavirus vaccine, as reported by Vice earlier this month. These false claims also continued to plague traditional social media platforms, even as Twitter and Facebook pledged to crack down on content.
“It is a major concern now that this could be an ideal meeting place for members of the anti-vaccine community, because it gives people the opportunity to call for supportive clubs that are talking and raising anti-vaccine content. And they can control the course of the conversation so that other voices are not heard, ”said Brooking.
Clubhouse rules for users prohibit the spread of “false information or spam”, as well as abuse and harassment. And while the Clubhouse does not normally record its sessions, the platform’s guidelines state that it has a temporary audio recording to support incident investigations. If a user reports an incident in real time, the platform is asked to retain the temporary recording.
But if a user reports an incident after the room closes, the platform will not have access to the room’s audio to support the investigation, according to the guidelines.
As the application continues to grow, the problem of misinformation may also increase.
The platform was first launched with a smaller set of users in March last year, at the time when global blockades began. Although still in an invite-only phase, the Clubhouse grew rapidly in popularity, surpassing 10 million installations globally on Friday, according to data from application analytics firm Sensor Tower.
A Clubhouse spokesman did not respond to comments to confirm how many active users are on the platform so far, but in a blog post on January 24, Clubhouse estimated it had about 2 million users that week.
Since then, the number of installations has skyrocketed. In the three weeks between January 25 and February 14, the Clubhouse saw about 6 million installations worldwide, 400% more than in the previous three weeks, based on data from Sensor Tower.
People who download the app and have not yet been invited are allowed to enter their information to receive an invitation to join through a mutual connection that is already a member, or to receive a notice when the app is open to the general public.
The application has already attracted important users, Elon Musk
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“I think it’s the new ‘place’ to be, at a time when you have nowhere to be,” said Jennifer Grygiel, assistant professor of communications at Syracuse University.
“Many people who started this were influencers. Even they were stuck at home during this pandemic, ”added Grygiel.
The Clubhouse may have an advantage in terms of mitigating the spread of viral misinformation compared to its traditional social media counterparts, according to experts.
Unlike almost all other platforms, including Twitter and Facebook, there is no “blogging” function to allow users to share each other’s posts, which is usually how posts, including incorrect information, are disseminated to a general public.
“If there is one thing that really sets it apart, it is the diminished capacity for virality built into the platform itself,” said Aram Sinnreich, a professor at the American University School of Communication.
While some raised concerns that misinformation could spread more freely because conversations disappear after a chat room closes, Sinnreich played down that concern. Users likely to have a wide audience would be concerned about conversations being archived or monitored by an outside source, he said.
“I think that anyone who is in the business of being an influencer – a public figure, a celebrity, a professional propaganda or disinformation promoter, political organizer – anyone with this type of work a description will be aware of limited security and ability surveillance and filing at the Clubhouse and we will act accordingly, ”said Sinnreich.
“And anyone who doesn’t know this and feels more free to express themselves than on Facebook or Twitter, is an ignorant person who doesn’t understand social media and therefore has a limited ability to include other people,” he added.
As more people join the platform, however, and if it is open to the public, changing the user base could change the culture of the app and potentially lead to more risks of spreading misinformation, experts warned.
“There is a future in which if the Clubhouse follows Facebook, a demographic group over 65 will start joining the mass platform,” said Brooking, noting that Facebook was launched as a site reserved only for student colleges .
“And instead of being a place for Silicon Valley elites to have very technology-oriented conversations, that would basically become the future of radio,” he added. “And if we follow this path, the dangers of disinformation and disinformation would be much more pronounced.”