Social networks has never been my thing. I am inactive on Facebook, and don’t have an Instagram account. But I enjoy Twitter, mainly for getting the ability to get real time news and opinions from around the world. As an example, Twitter enabled me to learn about the moving pieces of Covid-19: First, the spread of the infection around the world, actions taken by different governments, and now the rollout of vaccinations. So when Clubhouse started trending on my Twitter feed a few days back, I was intrigued by what could be so special to draw attention from the likes of Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerburg. One of my Twitter friends from Australia happened to be posting about Clubhouse, and I was delighted when he responded that he could get me an invitation to Clubhouse (After all, invitations to Clubhouse are selling on eBay for as much as $20). I signed up 48 hours ago, and am already a big fan.
Let me tell you specifically why?
- Audio has a lot of appeal. People can consume audio much more easily than any other media. You can listen to you favorite rooms in Clubhouse while jogging, driving, running an errand, cleaning up your home, and even while working. Audio content has an audience that the likes of Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram just cannot compete with.
- Clubhouse is live without recordings. That creates a different market compared to podcasts. You can listen to a podcast at any time, which means, there is a high likelihood that you will not listen to one you planned to. Clubhouse rooms are live, you either listen or you miss it. That creates extra incentive to listen. Once you listen, you feel that you are one of the select few who got the opportunity, so you want to tell everyone about it. That creates the networking effect for Clubhouse.
- Early adopters and influencers. Much like the early days of Twitter, influencers have embraced Clubhouse. This may also be due to the Covid-19 pandemic which keeps influencers far away from their target audience. On Clubhouse, multiple influencers gang up together and have discussions for hours.
- Good moderation. I am impressed by the quality of moderation on Clubhouse. Sessions are run smoothly over hours with moderators transferring responsibilities to each other. Here is an interesting article of how good moderation skills on Clubhouse can earn you over $150 an hour.
- Simple App: Clubhouse, for now is really simple. The product has a great user interface, and not too many features to distract you. I hope they keep it at that, and just focus on the scalability aspects. After all, the 5000 limit on a Clubhouse room would look ridiculous in a year from now.
So what have I been enjoying on Clubhouse? I dialed in to the Good Time (which had featured Elon and Mark before I joined Clubhouse). I have been listening to discussions on how to efficiently design an sell an online course. And I have been listening to various shows on managing money.
Clubhouse is set for a very bright future. They already got funded at a valuation of $1 Billion, and are likely to grow very fast. If you are one of the lucky few who got an invite from your friend, you would find it a good use in your spare time.
