‘Clubhouse’ is a new buzz of a day. It is an app that has picked up across the world. This app is based on audio chat and the world is crazy about it.

Although Whatsapp, Messenger, Viber, Instagram and many other apps also have this option, let us be clear that this is not just any audio recording – and that is not all.

The app is becoming increasingly popular, especially since Elon Musk started using it and spoke about it in public, and other celebrities such as Oprah Winfrey, Mark Zuckerberg, Drake and Kanye West followed his suit.

Clubhouse raises extra curiosity of users worldwide because it cannot just be downloaded from AppStore or Google Play. It is not even offered on the latter, and Apple users can access by invitation only. It is rumoured that it will soon be added to Google Play, but there is still no confirmation.

Photo: freepik.com

How does Clubhouse actually work?

The app users can listen to conversations, interviews and discussions of interesting individuals on various topics. Imagine an online podcast – it is closest to that, and yet it is a unique platform. You can open a virtual room yourself or join an existing one. Everything is live, in real time, and therefore conversations cannot be recorded or played subsequently.

Virtual rooms are limited to 5,000 people at a maximum, o you cannot attend any meeting if the room is full. It is important to note that no everyone can speak in a room – you mostly listen to conversations and, similarly to Zoom and Teams meetings we grew accustomed to in the past year, you can raise a hand and ask for a permission to speak or ask a question.

Algorithm and user safety

As any other app, this one will suggest more content you are interested in, namely the content similar to what you already listen to. When creating an account, you can select topics and areas of interest, so you preferred content will appear. And that is all we know for now.

In regard to user safety, there is a myriad of texts and blogs claiming that everything is on a high level, at least for now and that the ban of recording directly in the app is one of the ways of protecting users. Also, the app is banned in China, allegedly because of the impossibility to gain an insight into conversations on the platform which might threaten the state and national security.

The author of the app is Alpha Exploration Co, whose value grew to one billion dollars, according to the UK’s Financial Times. In May 2020, this service was worth 100 million dollars and had a total of 1,500 users. Today, it has two million of them. Imagine its growth were it available for Android phones as well!

While some say that this is only a messenger app with additional options, others think that it is a new SoMe platform. Time will tell how Clubhouse will develop and whether it is really safe and to what extent, but it is definitely the first app ever not available to everyone that has become so popular and globally successful.

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