In January 2021, a social audio app called Clubhouse began to be heard globally. A less than one-year app that becomes sensational recently. A platform that allows you to make a room and talk or have conversations with your friends, colleagues, even strangers in real-time. It’s just like a group chat room. But with a scale from two people talking up to thousands of people talking and interacting in a single room. Hundreds and thousands of people began to download the app, although it needs a special invitation from the current approved users to get in the app itself. And the app is still limited to iPhone users. But how can this app become so popular among smartphone users? How does the audio-based social media platform can attract more and more people to flood the app less than a year from its first even announced?
The audio-based platform is on a high rise nowadays. Besides video platforms such as Youtube, TikTok, and many others video-streaming platforms that already big in recent years. Video-based entertainment has already fulfilled the entertainment business since decades ago, even before the internet becomes a thing. VCDs, DVDs, and TVs are just the early stage example of how Visual Media was consumed as a daily thing before the internet era breakthrough. But the audio-based platform has its long time history before all of these visual things. How the radio and telephones become the first modern inventions to help people communicate and gain information from one to the others. Even now, look at your smartphone in your pocket. All smartphones already packed with the very basis of modern human communication need, yap a phone-call. What is it again? The audio one.
Audio — as I have explained above — was the very first of human communication needed. How people are interacting with the other? through conversation which spoke in a language. And language is delivered through sound and heard by the receipt, Audio has a very solid and important aspect to express what we are feeling about. Then, when it comes to being applied to a digital platform, no wonder that it can be a hit and gain the interests of thousands of people to download and utilize this kind of app. Because it provides the basic human needs, a conversation, a real-time conversation. Which the other social media didn’t have it — until recently they added and copying this feature — to have a real conversation within the app. People were provided to interact with other people by typing comments, replies, and a bunch of likes to express their interest in someone’s pictures or tweets. It’s merely simple to have other people talk to you, or maybe a group of people talking about a topic, from various locations and vast distances. The internet has been shaped us to become digital citizens. As people are spent more of their time in front of their gadget screens, a digital audio platform could help them to have a conversation remotely, With anybody they want to talk to.
The history of Clubhouse
Back in 2020, Paul Davison and Rohan Seth are on the way to the making of their long dreamed impactful platform. Both of them is the founder of Clubhouse, the recent popular audio social platform. Paul is a tech guy who had a long journey in startups and tech industries. He had interned in Google and worked in several tech industries in Silicon Valley before quitted and start to become an entrepreneur and make his own company. In early 2020. Rohan Seth joined to help after Davison failed in his previous app called Highlights. The app function is to meet new people nearby from the location in smartphone-based on contacts, friends relation, or interests. But the app troubled the phone’s battery to be quickly drowned as it is based on phone location. So, Rohan joined with Davison to brainstorm a new project after he sold the Highlights. From this point, they began to question which kind of project they will be working on? Is it marketing, education, or productivity to be explored? But then, they realized that people are currently having a lack of conversation-like platform in digital media. So, they decided to build a place where people meet and talk to each other, virtually. With no visual needed, just audio.
After months of preparation, they introduced their newborn platform and named it Clubhouse, in around June and August they reveal it to their colleagues in tech industries and some of the venture capitalists as a trial. Davison tries to communicate and have a daily-like conversation, often the platform used to discuss things like seminars or meetings and talk about deeper topics within, But in its early stage, sometimes the platform is quite empty. But Davison tried to attend and greet anyone on the platform every day to make sure that whoever joins into the platform wouldn’t be feel left behind as the room was empty. He tried to attend it every day until Rohan tells him to stop checking it every day, let the room grows itself, looking at whoever wants to have interactivity within the app. Later in August 2020, some of their colleagues who an influencer yet tech entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley began to have the interest to do seminars like in the platform, with more colleagues. They found out that the platform could emerge the feel like TEDx seminars, although it was held virtually. The intimacy from person to a person talking inside the platform, without any other visual nor unnecessary distraction. Making the speakers or the audience could be themself, express what they were without doubting any insecurity from the appearance. No need to prepare an outfit for a meeting or while have to meet anybody else, ’cause it’s just audio. Very convenient. The tones, the way they talk can bring people to stay hours on the platform. Making it the most real social platform rather than any of its predecessor.
The platform is filled with Silicon Valley’s tech group and entrepreneurs circle of Davison and Rohan. Expanding from a hundred people to 1,500 users, the platform began to get better recognized after several influencers and celebrities began to use the platform. Their tweets about the new Clubhouse app attract more and more new users to join and listen a lot to these entrepreneurs, CEOs, and influencers talking within the app. The app users began to grow up until 200,000 users in last year alone. Slightly increased yet still applying to the limited limitations only. The demand for opening the app publicly rises higher than any time before, makes the duo Rohan and Davison improve the community rules and guidelines before releasing it to the public. To avoid any harassment and verbal abuse later on the platform. Then, in January 2021 the app finally going public with the first wave reached 2 million users who joined Clubhouse and now approximately 8 million users at the end of February. The app explodes with tons of users attracted to join the platform, creating thousands of rooms and conversation topics spread within the app. Yet the company has valuated around 100Million dollars from respective ventures during its peak time. Making it the most fastest valuable company in history, even Google, Youtube, etc had to wait several years to be recognized and is a highly valuable company.
Real-time conversation as its finest
The main reason why this new platform could emerge a big enthusiasm among their users because of its convenience. The convenience to talk to another person — friends, colleagues, or strangers — in various room groups with hundreds of topics and interests. This platform can be built its ecosystem among the users, give them opportunities to look after which part they were belonged to. Separated only by the speakers and moderators who controlled each respective room, and listeners or audience who can ask to be added into the stage and talk with other speakers. It’s all live — non-replayable nor recorded conversation between them. Making it more enjoyable for many people to talk and listen in real-time to speakers that may they adored as public idols or just other experts in their fields. The platform can make anyone in this world speak freely in the platform, whether it’s politicians, celebrities, public figures, or anybody else as common citizens could speak. It’s a freedom of speech platform obviously. Treated everyone equally. No cap.
When the older audio-based digital platform like Spotify and Anchor podcasts, or any other recorded audio platform has dominated the market for several years. These platforms have delivered a good example of how audio-based platforms can entertain people. But, Clubhouse comes at the right time after the pandemic has been hit the world. During the pandemic, people are staying at homes, left behind a social-life habit as a human should do before. No more talking with friends and colleagues. No more hang out at cafes or chitty-chat with the gangs. No more seminars and events. Clubhouse comes at the right moments when everybody missed the social life outside. Then, it becomes a platform that bridging the gap between people’s need for chitty-chat and having a conversation with more and more people around, virtually.
New Competitors
The booming of Clubhouse creates a dominos effect for the rise of social audio platforms. There are more social audio platforms that have similarities with Clubhouse like Riffr, Wavve, and Spoon. The other platforms may not as popular as clubhouse but they deliver the same experience. Although there are older platforms like Discord and Jira which many years ahead they already had the features like Clubhouse. But Discord more specifically big in the streamers and gamers circle. When Jira is mostly used by developers and tech industry workers to communicate and collaborate with each other. The dominos effect of Clubhouse makes the other social platforms like Facebook, Twitter, even Linkedin start to cloning the audio-based communication feature. Twitter already released its Clubhouse-like feature called Space. Allowing the users to open a room and invite another Twitter account to talk in the room. Facebook and Linkedin began to add the same feature as well. While Telegram already added its real-time voice chat group within the app. These cloning features already becomes a thing in recent years of giant social media platforms to copy any trending and successful features of the other platform. Just take a look at Tik-Tok now that actually copied Vines Success in delivering vertical short video as their main feature. Or how Instagram cloned Snapchat in their IG stories and Reels that copied Tik-Tok. Don’t forget about Twitter that copied IG stories as Fleet that originally stolen from Snapchat. These such as a domino effect loop in every booming social-media feature. They won’t let the opportunity of their market lose and left the boring app features behind.
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Contributor: Abdul Hamid
