What is Behind the Hype?
‘Hey! So, what do you think of Clubhouse?’ – ‘Pardon? Discos are all closed right now, aren’t they?’ It is neither a disco, nor a new electronic music genre – everyone is talking about the Clubhouse social media platform at present; it has been topping the national app charts big-time for weeks now. But rarely has a social platform been as polarizing as Clubhouse is right now. ‘Anyone who is ‘in’ is in it,’ say those who are colossally addicted to the new format. ‘Anyone who is in it likes to hear themselves talking, above all else,’ claim the critics in contrast.
But what is Clubhouse actually? A large number of different ‘rooms’ are available to the user within the app. Each room represents a discussion or dialog on a specific topic. Yet what seems like a normal podcast up to this point promptly changes inside a room. This is because everything in the room happens in real time. The conversations are live, the number of listeners is always up to date, and if someone accidentally lets something unpleasant slip out (Bodo Ramelow, the German politician, could tell you a thing or two about that), the spoken word reigns supreme – and irreversibly so.
However, there are even more differences compared to a podcast: in the Clubhouse, talk time is almost unlimited, with the result that some discussions even last for several hours. The special feature, and at the same time the unique selling point of the Clubhouse, is that listeners have the opportunity to interact at any time. If, for example, a user makes a virtual hand signal, she can get the go-ahead from the moderator or ‘room founder’ to join the discussion. Since the app is an audio-only platform, however, users cannot see each other – only the profile photo in their account.
Exclusivity? More Illusion than Reality
But to get into Clubhouse in the first place, you have to overcome two hurdles at the same time. Firstly, the app is still only available for iPhone users, and secondly, it is necessary to get an invitation from another user. Almost like a ‘doorperson’, along the lines of: ‘Not everyone gets in here!’ Definitely a clever move by the Clubhouse inventors. After all, the artificial scarcity does lend the whole thing a certain air of elitism. However, if you take a closer look, you will quickly notice that it is more illusion than reality. Since each user has two invitations, the number of members is rising sharply every day. Now that we have had the corona crisis, it is not only mathematical geniuses who know how the reproduction number works. And with an R rate of two, the spread increases exponentially, regardless of whether it is a virus or just an app.
It also works without an invitation: the only requirement is that the phonebook contains a contact who already uses the platform. Once the Clubhouse app has been downloaded, the person concerned receives a message that a known number from the address book would like to join and can add it in this way. This only works if both participants allow access to their phone book, as this is the only way to match up the data.
Range of Topics Knows Hardly Any Bounds
The range of topics is enormous. From complex discussions about international pandemic policies with high-ranking experts, to innovative startup talks with the jury members from the Dragons’ Den, through chit-chat rounds à la ‘Lisa’s nail polish tutorial’, just about everything is included – although the number of superficial small-talk sessions is now rising proportionally on a daily basis. If you use Clubhouse more intensively and know which search parameters to apply, you can easily filter out your preferred formats to a large extent.
In any event, one trend is quickly becoming clear: Clubhouse seems to be the feel-good oasis for extroverts.
Those who like to network, need a lot of talk time, and like to claim the digital stage for themselves really thrive in this format. Sounds dull? Yes. Does it work? The answer to this question, at least at the moment, is probably still ‘yes’.
All the Data is Handed in at the Door
Clubhouse recently came in for heavy criticism from The Federation of German Consumer Organisations (Verbraucherzentrale Bundesverband – vzbv), even including a warning. This is because, as the vzbv Executive Director Klaus Müller wrote on Twitter, there are said to be ‘serious legal deficiencies’ on the platform.
According to vzbv, users of the app should exercise maximum care due to the extremely unclear data protection position. You can join without making your contacts available, but as soon as you want to send the much sought-after invitations to others, the app accesses all the contacts saved in your phonebook.
If users allow access, they pass the data on to a company that stores the information on servers in the US, according to information from the consumer association. The vzbv believes that this in turn leads to ‘shadow profiles’ being created and used for advertising purposes. The language barrier also comes into focus again at this point: as the privacy policy is not yet available in German, advanced English skills are required in this context. Another aspect is that the company from Oakland, California, has not yet provided an official legal notice in Germany.
And that is not all: Clubhouse not only wants access to contacts, but also to Twitter, all other social networks, interests, calendar and, of course, the microphone. In the guide, it is expressed even more drastically in the ‘Privacy’ section. This states that they collect content, communications, and other information provided, including when someone signs up for an account, creates or shares content, and message or communicates with others.
Keeping an Eye on the Development of the Platform
But how likely is it that Clubhouse will establish itself in the long term, and is not just surfing on a huge wave of hype at this time? In the US at least, the euphoria has long since subsided again, and in Germany, too, you do not read and hear nearly as much as you did a few weeks ago. There is no doubt that the format is unique in its own way so far, even if it does still benefit greatly from the lockdown and the large amount of free time available to users. As a result, the app has yet to prove that it will still be in demand after the corona crisis. After all, it would be the first ‘new’ social platform in many years to become established on the market in the long term.
Besides data privacy, however, listeners’ lack of time could be a major obstacle. Apart from that, there is no shortage whatsoever of podcasts that can be accessed ‘on demand’ at any time, unlike Clubhouse. Nevertheless, it is a matter of monitoring developments closely and seeing what happens. Because: while early adopters basically jump on every new social network to take advantage of the quick hype, in this case it pays to have some patience, without letting yourself come under too much pressure.
It must also be noted that Clubhouse is currently still in the beta phase and the finished ‘final product’ is not yet available for assessment. It is clear, however, that an Android version will be coming soon. We know this because, as an attentive Twitter user recently noticed, the company has already published a job posting for Android developers on its website. This would also fit in with the statement from the two founders, Paul Davison and Rohan Seth. The duo announced a few weeks ago that the app is currently trying to learn as much as possible about user wishes.
They added that the infrastructure is also being constantly expanded in order to be well prepared for large-scale roll-out.
