Clubhouse is a new social network that arrived only a few weeks ago but with great force thanks to the boom in podcasts . It is a social network that invites the gathering, since only the voice is used to communicate, without sharing messages or photos or videos. The operation is similar to that of a call between several people at the same time. As defined by its creators, it is “A direct audio chat”. In this article we are going to gut this new social phenomenon that promises to make a lot of noise on the Internet.
What is clubhouse
Clubhouse is a communication platform that aims to be a new type of voice-based social network. When you enter the app you can see ‘rooms’ where people are talking. All are open to enter or exit, exploring various conversations and themes.
More than a community, it is a network of interconnected and diverse communities. Only the voice is used, it is enough to chat with others, as if it were on the phone. The system is very similar to the IRC chats that were used in the late 90’s and early 21st century but communicating with the voice.
The appearance of Elon Musk or Mark Zukeberg in a room to talk to other people has triggered the interest and popularity of this social network.
How does it work
The first peculiarity that we should know about this social network is that it can only be accessed by invitation. Invitations can only be sent by people who are already inside. Each person has two invitations, so you have to have enough head when using them.
Once inside, the operation is simple, just join a group conference of the many that appear. There are ‘followers’ (followers) and ‘following’ (people you follow) and the number of each can be seen in the profile, along with a brief presentation, with an interface very similar to the Instagram profile.
In addition, four icons will appear inside:
A magnifying glass to search for contacts, people or conversation clubs.
An envelope with the available invitations and a list of our mobile contact list with the number of friends that each one already has in Clubhouse.
A bell with information on the activity of the people we follow, along with invitations to join ongoing conversations. In those cases, you can choose between “I’m in” or “Not now, thanks”.
Who are its creators
The app is owned by the American company Alpha Exploration, and was created in 2020 by Rohan Seth and Paul Davison, a graduate of the famous Stanford University.
It has more than 180 investors of all sizes, although the Andreessen Horowitz venture capital fund stands out, specializing in cryptocurrencies and health-related businesses.
The launch of the app in the US was in March 2020, coinciding with the confinement due to the pandemic. At that time, only its two founders were on the social network.
How to get an invite
As we have already mentioned, each user only has two invitations, so they are highly valued, and you have to know who they are sent to. To find out if we already have a contact within Clubhouse we just have to register. Once registered, it will appear if there is any contact of ours within whom we can request an invitation.
It may eventually stop being invite-only to help it grow faster, but for now it’s an exclusive, invite-only club.
Other data of interest
Up to 5,000 users can join each chat room at the same time. The application menu shows the available chat rooms, along with the icon of the followers of each one.
The theme of the rooms is very varied, being able to talk about art, history, sports, cinema, comics, philosophy, geopolitics, business, cities, health, lifestyle or languages. Some very successful rooms have been where people sing opera, discuss the NBA, or have meditation sessions, self-help sessions, or give advice on covid.
In each room there are administrators, moderators or club leaders with the ability to lock and close a room during the progress of the debates.
The platform strongly condemns and does not condone hate speech, racism, religious intolerance, to the point of expelling users who do not comply with the rules.
