| USA TODAY
Clubhouse: the social network that requires an invitation
Clubhouse is the newest invite-only social networking app to hit the market. It has a podcast vibe and is attracting the interest of technology icons.
Buzz60
Julie Wenah was looking for solace to share her thoughts when a friend invited her to join the Clubhouse, a voice application where users chat and debate on topics ranging from politics, business, technology, professional networking, sports, music and religion.
Wenah’s anxiety and isolation intensified, taking her “close to the edge,” she said as COVID-19 restricted her in May. She felt sad and guilty after seeing almost 2,000 of her co-workers being fired due to the pandemic and then traumatized after George Floyd’s death and its aftermath.
“The voice is a very intimate tool. There is something powerful about being able to hear someone’s authenticity, vulnerability and strengths in one space, ”said Wenah. “I think it helps to break down barriers and shows that we are more alike than different.”
What is the Clubhouse?
The 11-month Clubhouse’s auditory fascination is creating a frenzy beyond its exclusive status. The app is only available to iPhone users, as invitations are so rare that they even appeared on sale on eBay. The app, with its unrecorded conversations, has proven to be so popular globally that it is now banned in China. On Thursday, there was a “What the hell is the Clubhouse?” discussion attended by hundreds in a mix of Arabic and English.
The chats in the different rooms take place in real time and at any time. Think of the voice-only platform as intimate conference calls with potentially thousands of people from all walks of life participating. The phrase “Be authentic” is heard constantly.
Wenah, who currently serves as a senior community adviser on Airbnb and was a policy advisor to the Obama administration, participated and moderated hundreds of rooms at the Clubhouse, including “Testimony Tuesday”, where members share their thoughts.
His ubiquitous presence also led Wenah to become a Clubhouse face – literally. It appeared as the app’s third “icon” when it became available on Apple’s App Store in August. She also witnessed the popularity of the app just for guests, from more than 3,000 users, to now see important figures like Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, Oprah Winfrey, Drake and Brad Pitt appear.
Members can feel that they are eavesdropping on conversations or exchanging ideas with powerful players and celebrities – for free. Chats can last for hours, as this interaction takes place at a time in a world that is mostly frustrated and tired from being socially isolated and tired of attending video conference meetings all day.
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Although the Clubhouse hasn’t revealed how many people use the app, it has been downloaded more than 8 million times worldwide – more than double the total on February 1 – and 2.6 million downloads in the United States alone, according to the App Annie app tracker. The Clubhouse is valued at $ 1 billion and recently raised more than $ 100 million in funding just last month. Facebook is building an audio chat, and Twitter is working on a similar product called Spaces.
Notable investors include prominent Silicon Valley venture capitalists and early Clubhouse users Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz. Horowitz’s wife, Felicia, who many credit for helping to diversify members using the app, is the moderator of a well-attended Saturday night virtual dinner.
A recent meeting focused on the appreciation of black art, addressing topics such as street art and what would be shown in museums, in addition to making art more accessible and accessible. Guests included former Walt Disney Co. president Michael Ovitz, Gayle King of CBS News, CNN analyst Van Jones, Tina Knowles (yes, Beyoncé’s mother) and hip hop entrepreneur Fab 5 Freddy.
Another popular attraction is a weekly “city hall” with Clubhouse founders and serial entrepreneurs Paul Davison and Rohan Seth, where they spend an hour on Sunday mornings answering questions from members. During a unique way to spend Valentine’s Day, 5,000 people – the maximum number in a Clubhouse room (and thousands of others listening in a “crowded” room) – heard Davison give quick answers to questions.
Clubhouse has room to ‘evolve’
Currently, the application is exclusively for iPhone. So, when will the app be available to Android users? “We are working on it,” said Davison. He also stated that the members are human, not bots. “We want to make sure that the person you’re talking to is the real person, that’s how it works for now,” said Davison.
Davison also answered questions about his rules on disinformation, abuse, hate speech and bullying. Reports and comments on disinformation, harassment and dangerous rhetoric against the LGBTQ community have been published.
Davison reiterated comments that appeared in a blog post last fall that the Clubhouse does not tolerate any of these things and is also adding security features and empowering its moderators. The app also has locking and reporting features in the room to give members more control over their security.
Jennifer Grygiel, a professor of social media at Syracuse University who has been using the app since January, expects the Clubhouse to resolve any issues sooner or later, as the number of invite-only members increases.
“At some point, they may be pressured to address their concerns about the business model before there are significant problems in this room. We see this on other platforms, such as Facebook Live, where there is also real-time communication, ”said Grygiel. “The risk of bad actors can arise as your base grows. Like any other place on the Internet, it can be explored. “
But a former corporate executive of a multi-billion dollar company and frequent Clubhouse moderator believes that the founders are taking everything members say into account while making major changes to the app’s back end.
“They are growing and evolving,” said Kat Cole, former head of operations and president of Focus Brands, the parent company of the basic shopping products Jamba Juice and Cinnabon. Cole said the Clubhouse could make a litany of changes that members want, “but that would distract from a pure listening and talking experience. They had the discipline to add other tools, such as a calendar and reliable and safe tools, to protect the space. There is always more they can do. “
Cole, who lives in the Atlanta area and has nearly a million followers, said she is not an investor in the Clubhouse, but “a passionate member”. She hosts and gives advice in several rooms, including a so-called “Leadership Laboratory”. On Friday, Cole and Wenah co-moderated a Leadership Lab session entitled, “Unleashed: The Unapologetic Leader’s Guide,” based on the critically acclaimed book by Harvard business professor and former Uber executive Frances Frei, who also participated and answered questions.
A self-styled multitasker, Cole, a married mother of two who is an angel investor, mentor and board member for several companies, said the Clubhouse offers her more flexibility than she imagined after joining in May. “I can host rooms with thought leaders exploring important issues and I can get into my pajamas, do something to eat and touch so many lives in the process.”
Cole likes the “low friction and high ease of use” application. It compares the Clubhouse to attending a virtual conference, except that you don’t need to travel or be seen. “Because it is the voice, I think I capture more nuances, it seems more emotional,” she said.
Grygiel said the Clubhouse’s strategy, from managing growth to hiring employees and making money, will determine whether it will still be mentioned on Facebook and Twitter. “The chain alone does not pay the bills, and it is unclear who is benefiting from being at the Clubhouse now, in addition to the initial group that is already well connected,” said Grygiel.
Clubhouse fascination? Who is coming
Shortly after the Clubhouse received its last round of funding, Musk raised his eyebrows when he appeared on the app to chat with Vlad Tenev, Robinhood’s controversial chief executive about GameStop’s commercial turmoil on Wall Street. Musk later tweeted that he would try to get Kanye West and President of Russia, Vladamir Putin in the app.
Shortly after Musk, Facebook CEO Zuckerberg appeared at the Clubhouse praising virtual and augmented reality.
These surprise sightings prove that anyone can appear, said Clubhouse member Cliff Worley, senior director of portfolio growth marketing at Kapor Capital in Oakland, California. He tried feverishly to hear Musk in a crowded room – and even in a “crowded” room – with no luck. He settled for a live stream on YouTube.
“It was like trying to buy the best pair of sneakers online on a date and not being able to log into the app,” said Worley.
Grygiel is not sure about the application’s longevity. “The Clubhouse can have a schedule. We’ll see.”
Worley, who moderated chat rooms with his former boss, Shark Tank star Daymond John, disagrees.
“Clubhouse is a value-driven app. There is no way to hide behind a highly produced video or photo shoot with that, ”said Worley. “If your voice is not bringing any value, you will not have significant followers.”
Suezette Yasmin Robotham, a professional of diversity, equity and inclusion in a Silicon Valley technology company, shares a similar sentiment.
“I think it created an opportunity for more voices to be amplified on a balanced playing field,” said Robotham, who is a co-founder of the Black Love Club.
Clubhouse as a space for frank conversations
Of course, the application brings business opportunities. For Ruby Gadelrab, the founder of MDisrupt, a platform that unites digital health innovators with industry experts, she hopes that talking to a digital health founder she met on the app will lead to a partnership.
Gadelrab appreciates the frankness of the application. She remembered a fascinating discussion about eliminating health disparities.
“It was one of the most super and brutally honest conversations about the disparities and ways to correct them,” said Gadelrab. “We could speak more openly, more freedom to speak.”
Honesty and vulnerability led Wenah, who has 1.5 million followers, to share her feelings on the app after Floyd’s death in Minneapolis in May. She was distressed because the Houston native has a childhood friend who met Floyd, also a Houston native.
Wenah, who at the time lived in Oakland, California, revealed to Clubhouse members that she was afraid to walk a block to a nearby post office, fearing she would be approached because it was close to where a federal officer was shot dead during a protest by Floyd’s death. A member of the Clubhouse was so moved that he drove for an hour from Silicon Valley to help Wenah overcome his fear.
She shared this on a Twitter topic in August, six months before the app’s popularity grew and became the app’s third icon.
Last week, she reflected that “I still feel a sense of healing, a sense of belonging and an instant community.”