In addition to Snapchat, TikTok, Instagram and Facebook, a new social network is emerging. This is Clubhouse: a social network where audio comes first. You can read all about it here.
Clubhouse FAQ: New Social Network Explained
While some people are just getting used to TikTok, Clubhouse is fast becoming the next hype in social media land. The app is also gaining popularity in the Netherlands. So it’s high time to answer the most important questions.
Clubhouse FAQ
1. What is Clubhouse?
Clubhouse is a new social network that is all about audio. So you can’t turn on your camera; only access to your microphone is required. The app is currently only available for iOS. According to a market survey by Sensor Tower the app has now been installed 14,000 times in the Netherlands, worldwide this counter stands at 4.1 million.
That will only increase in the near future, now that Elon Musk has already arrived in the app. This immediately resulted in an increase in popularity. Rest assured that Clubhouse will quickly rise in the App Store rankings as more famous names make themselves heard in the app.
2. How does Clubhouse work?
When you first start Clubhouse, the app asks about your contacts and your interests. Based on this, the app will suggest ‘rooms’ (or Rooms) to you. By joining a room, you can listen in or participate in conversations about a variety of topics. There are rooms for musicians, but also well-known actors who create rooms to start conversations with fans.
You can also create a Room yourself: you can open it up to everyone, only the people you follow or only people you manually invite. For example, you can create a group for your friends to catch up. Another way to use Clubhouse is to simply join rooms and listen in. Like a kind of live podcast.
3. What can I listen to or talk about?
Clubhouse has an extensive ‘Explore function’ that shows you what you can do in the app. By tapping ‘Find more people to follow’ on the home screen, you can see which contacts are already using the app. You can follow it, so that you can start the conversation with it.
Below that is the ‘Find converter stations about’ overview. There you see rooms per subject where people are talking at that moment. The topics vary enormously. From people talking about parenthood to discussions about cycling, games and faith. If you decide to follow a channel, you will receive a notification as soon as a conversation starts. Then you can participate in it with the push of a button.
4. What about moderation?
At the end of January, the makers of Clubhouse shared a comprehensive statement on moderation. The app aims to be a platform for a diverse sound, from BLM discussions to complete game shows held in the app. If users encounter inappropriate language or hateful topics, you can report this in the app.
Moreover, Clubhouse in its current form is still quite small. The big question is how this issue will develop if everyone can get started with the app without an invitation.
5. Download Clubhouse and the invite-only system
You can download the Clubhouse app for free from the App Store. Check the link at the bottom of this article for this. There’s not much you can do with it then: for the time being you need an invitation to be able to use Clubhouse.
You can only get this ‘Clubhouse Invite’ from someone who already uses the app. As soon as you have an invitation, you will also receive an invitation to give to someone else. For example, the number of users who have access to the app is slowly but surely increasing.