What's a Clubhouse? 

Clubhouse is an invite-only, audio-chat application which enables people, from all over the world, to share talk in real time; in other words, it’s a listen-and-talk platform and as Paul Davison put it nicely, clubhouse is for “connecting authentically with other humans” since there’s no fake like or commenting, as it’s only for  listening and talking authentically; it's been released in March 2020, right at the time when Covid-19 pandemic was at its peak with the highest death toll and people were in desperate need of getting in touch with each other through the safest mode of communication, and there came an app which let them recline on their sofas, keep the right social distances, and join different conversations with groups of people who were suffering from the same situation.

The previous platforms provided the means for people to stay connected, to share their moments, to do business and so forth; however, up to this point, clubhouse is exclusively focused on sharing thoughts auditory; unlike twitter which is a great platform to write down your mind, and is a perfect place for writers, Clubhouse offers chat rooms where each individual can freely take part, either by listening to live conversations as a part of audience or by discussing a topic on stage. 

Compared to the other popular apps, there's no visual service like video calling, photo sharing, or texting in Clubhouse; it is solely auditory which might be useful for sharpening hearing abilities. We’re used to visual apps and we can understand and follow others by their body language or by reading their lips. In clubhouse, there's nothing of that kind; your ear needs to be very attentive and sharp to distinguish the diversity of the voices you hear, and differentiate the change of voice or the speaker; however, when someone is talking, you can see his profile photo, the squaricle, flashing. some people compare it to podcast, while it's totally different; nevertheless, there are similarities as well. 

How do I get it?

The application is available for Android or iOS (versions 13+) and can be easily installed, however, an existing user should send you an invitation for logging you in and there you go, you instantly join the app and have access to multiple rooms. Actually, every user gets 2 invites initially and can increase it by being active in the app. The app icon uses the portraits of artists or exceptional people in order to celebrate them and help them get known worldwide on regular basis, so don’t worry if you find the app with different icons from time to time. 

Once logged in, you can choose your topics of interest and then pages or contacts that share the same interest as yours, pop up in your feed; you can check the pages by joining their running rooms, and follow them if they seem useful to you. Remember that you cannot share photos or videos in this app, you can only add your profile photo and that's it, so choose a fine one and don’t forget to have a clear bio to present yourself better to the world that’s going to hear you talk. 

How does it work?

A host starts a room by adding a topic to clarify what the room is about. Depending on the type of room, people can hop in or out very simply; actually, there are 3 types of rooms: Open, Social, and Closed rooms. Open rooms have no limits, and everyone from all over the world can join in, and take part in the conversations without necessarily following the page. Social rooms are specifically available for the followers of a page, and Closed rooms, as the name may suggest, are open only for the contacts that are chosen by the room creator. 

The moderator in each group can put other participants on the stage to talk and can remove the speakers at any time; also, a room can be co-hosted by another account. If you want to join the conversation, there's a raise-hand on the down right side of the app, which asks for a permit to talk; if the topic doesn't interest you, you can easily and of course quietly leave it by tapping on the peace sign ‘Leave quietly’. There’s also a microphone icon, which is off by default, and you should keep it off whenever others are talking to avoid creating extra noise. Turn it on whenever you talk just by tapping on it. You can also follow speakers if you are interested in anyone. When someone is talking a gray line flashes around the profile photo indicating the current speaker. 

What are the benefits?

Here are some of the most important advantages Clubhouse offers:

• You can listen in on people's live conversations and know more about the current trends & concerns.
• You can also join the chat and share your thoughts publicly.
• You are heard widely all round the world and you may gain some fame, or discuss a topic in person with your role model.
• Each room can have up to 5000 participants, and you have a chance to hear directly from the celebrities or politicians. 
• It's a real time conversation without effects, filters, or so. 
• You can lie down or be wherever you are without worrying about your appearance or background. 
• It's a perfect platform for people with speaking skills, the conversationalists, of course others can also learn and gain conversational skills by taking part in these rooms.
• You have the opportunity to hear directly from the experts, the celebrities or billionaires and benefit from their live talk.
• It provides the means for reaching the people who share the same interest as you. 
• You can simply participate using your phone which is 99% accessible at any time or anywhere. 
• It assists you to gain some confidence to talk as you’re not seen, but only heard; in fact, it increases your self-confidence. 

What are the disadvantages?

Like all other apps, there are some downsides applicable to this platform as well, however the owners have promised to develop the app by reducing and controlling any possible bugs or negative points; here are some of the possible drawbacks that the users have faced since its initial launch: 

• It’s easy for users to abuse and insult others.
• Anyone can easily hop in to the rooms, and there are many ghost-like audiences who join for abusing the data or causing distractions; however, the moderators can control this.
• You talk to total strangers.
• Users can use fake voices, or IDs and it's hard to notice it.
• The conversations are live and are not recorded, however some people record it using other apps.
• It can become addictive.
• There might be hearing misunderstandings and there’s no way other than speaking to resolve it. for example, no typing possibility.  
• You should be careful about your intonation as you might be misunderstood, your voice is your one and only tool to reflect your means and emotions. 

In general, let’s hope that the app remains to be a useful tool for broadening people’s knowledge and sticks to its goals and mottos. Normally, most platforms start with a specific plan but they tend to bend their initial plans and visions based on the fierce competition in the tech world; for instance, Twitter started as a platform for writing short texts or ideas, but soon it kept adding features in a way that now it has video sharing services as well. It’s best that each app develops its initial goal to the highest standard without getting trapped in the current battle of gaining the control of the market. After all, if all apps offer the same features, users with different tastes will not have a proper choice to fulfill their needs. 

Clubhouse, The Audio-Chat App

Robi B