What is Clubhouse that makes the technology world go viral?

The world of social media is changing, and perhaps the best example of this trend is the emergence of the Clubhouse app . Although only 11 months old, Clubhouse has become a fever sought by many technology lovers and popular culture.

Gradually, the user community saw this application as an icon, a square where participants had the freedom to express their opinion.

What is Clubhouse that makes the technology world go viral? Picture 1

What is Clubhouse?

Instead of using writing as a means of communication, Clubhouse allows people to gather in audio chat rooms to discuss different topics. The New York Times said conversations appearing on Clubhouse could involve astrophysics, geopolitics or cosmic poetry. It can be said that Clubhouse has no restrictions on content, therefore, users can join thousands of chat rooms every day if they want.

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According to Apptopia statistics , only in January 2021, this application has attracted nearly 4 million downloads. In addition, Clubhouse was also attended by celebrities such as Ai Weiwei, Lindsay Lohan and Roger Stone. Even billionaire Elon Musk has sent an invitation to join the application to Russian President Vladimir V. Petin.

Clubhouse is changing the social network model

The Clubhouse's arrival created a heated debate. Many believe that audio is slowly taking the place of written text, photos and videos as the new tool for social media.

'This is a huge change in the way social media works. I believe Clubhouse is opening a whole new chapter of history, 'said Dave Morin, founder of social network Path, one of those who invested in Clubhouse.

The Clubhouse's rebellion was swift. As of May 2020, the app had only a few thousand users, most of whom had to be invited by former users and not widely available. The thirst for Clubhouse is so strong that old users are willing to sell eBay offers to use their apps for up to $ 89.

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Realizing this nascent app's miraculous growth, several media companies like Barstool Sports created a Clubhouse account and planned to hire a 'senior application manager'.

All eyes of attention were on the tiny San Francisco startup. Clubhouse was founded by two businessmen Paul Davison and Rohan Seth with about a dozen employees. In the face of the brainchild craze created by the brainchild, app operators struggled to handle skyrocketing traffic. On February 10, the application even encountered an error.

In early 2021, Clubhouse has raised an investment of up to 100 million USD. In addition, the application of two businessmen from San Francisco is valued at $ 1 billion. The presence of Clubhouse has a great impact on the world of social media, the giants like Facebook or Twitter have had to embark on researching similar models to create a competitive position.

New headache of international officials

Unlimited content is not necessarily a good thing. This app is constantly faced with a series of complaints related to harassment, misinformation or privacy. Also in January 2021, a female doctor participating in Clubhouse denounced the case of another user spreading conspiracy theories about the Covid-19 vaccine, and urged the community to refuse the vaccination.

Clubhouse is becoming a big question mark for German and Italian officials. Some European regulators fear Clubhouse cannot meet requirements for user data protection. In early February, the Chinese government took a move to block the application in the territory.

A new playground for content creators

Clubhouse is following in the startup footprint of Silicon Valley giants. The development of this application cannot avoid the clutter that comes with it. This is a social media company founded in America after many years. Before that, social media was becoming the playground of TikTok, an app owned by Chinese company Bytedance.

'It's crazy, we have a lot of people involved,' commented Davison, the co-founder of the app.

The two Clubhouse founders first met in 2011. In 2019, together they built Talkshow, the precursor foundation of Clubhouse. However, it was not until March 2020 that the Clubhouse application was officially launched. Like TikTok or other social networking applications, Clubhouse gradually gained more attention during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The app quickly featured Silicon Valley venture capitalists like Marc Andreessen and business partner Ben Horowitz. Soon after, many famous people like Oprah Winfrey, MC Hammer or musician John Mayer also quickly joined the Clubhouse.

In May 2020, Andreessen and his Horowitz joint venture, Andreessen Horowitz, invested $ 10 million in Clubhouse, and valued the app up to $ 100 million. At that time, the app start-up had only 2 employees.

The app has attracted many content creators on TikTok and YouTube. In December 2020, Clubhouse announced a 'test program for creators' with the aim of introducing a new model of monetization on apps.

Clubhouse's reverse side

However, the downside of the application gradually emerged, many users said Clubhouse is becoming a place where women and people of color are criticized, subject to anti-Semitism, homosexuality and racism. moving.

Porsha Belle, 32, a Clubhouse user in Houston, said after she spoke up about misconduct on the app, people set up chat rooms to encourage each other to report on her accounts. Belle's account was immediately suspended on Feb. 8.

'My page is paused while bullies are free to harass others,' says Bell, who tried to appeal to the company but with little success.

Rahchelle Dooley, a social network manager with a hearing loss in Texas, said she was regularly bullied and kicked out of several Clubhouse rooms.

'They said why this deaf woman used the audio app. I froze and started crying, '' Dooley said.

Or, according to Kimberly Ellis, 48, an American and African research scholar at Carnegie Mellon University, in some Clubhouse chat rooms, instead of giving financial advice, many users are drawn into Multi-level marketing model.

During a Sunday's Clubhouse discussion, co-founder Davison said the company has clear rules against the spread of false information, hate speech, abuse and bullying. The startup also announced that it has added advisors, moderators and safety features since 2020.

Marvin Fry

Update 17 February 2021