What do Oprah Winfrey, Drake, and Ashton Kutcher have in common? Apart from being super good-looking, uber-rich, and mega-famous, they all love this year’s latest technological craze—Clubhouse.

Have you been hearing the buzz about Clubhouse? Once Elon Musk, the tech billionaire, made his debut in a Clubhouse room, his appearance sparked a scramble for invitations to the exclusive online service. This blog post is going to cover the ins and outs of the super popular app that has people scrambling to get an invite.

What You Need to Know About Clubhouse

Getting started using Clubhouse for your brand isn’t rocket science. But to make it easier for you, we’ve gathered everything that you need to make the app worthwhile and engaging.

What Do the Clubhouse Terms Mean?

Before going into specifics, there are seven important terms you must be familiar with to understand how Clubhouse works.

  1. Room: The Room is the place where users gather. In ordinary social apps, the room is akin to a group chat. Clubhouse hosts may have many rooms and each covers different topics.
  1. Hallway: The Hallway serves as your personal timeline and is where you see a list of rooms that are currently taking place. 
  1. Moderator: The Moderator is a user with administrative privileges, including bringing users on stage or muting users’  microphones if the conversation starts to lose focus. The moderator hasa temporary green badge next to his/her name.
  1. On Stage: The On Stage section is where you will see everyone who is speaking.
  1. Club: The Club refers to a group created by a Clubhouse user. Users can create various clubs with different themes. You can follow clubs for updates and join a club to start your own Room for members of that club.
  1. Ping: This feature relates to the little plus sign button on the bottom right that acts as an alert. By hitting the button, other users will be notified about a room you are in or created.
  1. PTR: The PTR  acronym stands for “Pull to Refresh” and it allows you to refresh the order of the room or to see updated photos.

What’s the Platform’s Background?

Paul Davison, a former Silicon Valley entrepreneur, and Rohan Seth, a former Google employee, developed Clubhouse. It started as a single room, where the creators hung out all the time to talk. According to Fortune, Davison and Seth received approximately $12 million in funding from Andreessen Horowitz. In the same month, Clubhouse was released and reached a reported $100 million valuation. Today, the software is valued at $1 billion.

Only Apple devices can download Clubhouse. Even so, the software has more than one billion downloads worldwide. Users consist of celebrities, CEOs, entrepreneurs, and ordinary individuals. Celebrities who have Clubhouse include Oprah Winfrey, Drake, Ashton Kutcher, Kevin Hart, Jared Leto, Chris Rock, and Tiffany Haddish.

How Does Clubhouse Work?

Clubhouse is purely an audio-chat platform. Users can only see profile pictures of other users and when you listen to conversations, no pictures or videos appear. The app is a modern day version of a party line (a telephone circuit multiple telephone service subscribers share). Clubhouse announced forthcoming features like making the app widely available and selling subscriptions or tickets to events. 

What Are the Topics On Clubhouse?

From sports to technology, religion to health, parenting to wellness and so on, the app offers a lot of conversational topics for you to follow. For each topic, you can find other users who have the same interest and you can follow them. When you discover more topics and follow more people, you will receive suggestions for a Room that fits your liking. 

Does Clubhouse Have a Playback Feature?

The Clubhouse app does not have a replay feature in case you want to listen to past conversations. The Rooms come and go as people launch or end them. That said, it doesn’t prevent users from using third-party recording software.

Is There a Clubhouse Room Limit? 

When Elon Musk hosted a room, he busted through the app’s limit. Currently, the app limits 5,000 people per Clubhouse Room. But, members who want to exceed that limit are creative. Some started live-streaming the conversation on YouTube. 

Can You Only Listen In or Can You Talk?

The answer to whether you can only listen in or talk when you join a Room is both yes and no. The app has a “raise a hand” button and the room creator has the choice whether or not to let you talk. 

How To Start Your Own Club?

Instead of joining Rooms, Clubhouse also allows users to create their own club. How exciting would it be to have your own regular pool of audience, right? But, there are also several factors to consider before starting your own club. Firstly, you cannot create the Club instantly. Users who wish to be the founder of the Club must meet the requirements of hosting a minimum of three Rooms and must also submit an application. And secondly, Clubhouse is experiencing an unusually high volume of club requests so expect that it could take some time before your request is accepted.

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4 Tips to Follow When Using the App

When using the popular app, follow these four tips to make your experience worthwhile.

1. Master the Clubhouse Features

Clubhouse has two notable features. One, it is an invite-only app. Download it at Apple’s App Store (sorry Android users!).  Keep in mind that without an invite text, all you can do is reserve your username. How exactly do you get invited? The answer to this is a bit murky. You have to receive a unique sign-up link to join from a Clubhouse user. To receive one, you have to be in the contact list of the Clubhouse user’s phone. Each new user is allowed only one invite. In case you do not get an invite, you can get yourself on the waiting list by reserving a username and subtly dropping your Clubhouse-user friends a hint that you want to join. Your Clubhouse-user friends will be notified and have the option to let you in even if they no longer have any invites to send.

The other feature of Clubhouse is that it is audio-based. Basically, the app allows people to share stories and ideas and form friendships. It is interactive because you get to be either the speaker or the listener. Once invited, you can start in the main room with many other users and then join a specific room with fewer users who are interested in talking or listening to a shared topic. 

2. Practice Etiquette

Respect is a must in Clubhouse. So, behave the way you would if you were at a conference, seminar, workshop, or any other event. If you are a listener and get called on stage to add to the topic, stick to the topic and refrain from talking about anything that does not add value to the topic. Also, pay attention to how the conversation is going, including questions other users ask. In case you get brought up on stage to ask a question, avoid repeating a previous question. Finally, make sure to follow Clubhouse’s Terms of Use including not recording or transcribing conversations taking place in any room without the permission of every participant.

3. Find the Right Topic for You

Clubhouse can be addictive. Not only does it offer entertainment but also learning. As previously mentioned, you may enter many different rooms. Each room discusses different topics, such as starting up your own business, getting into the technology world, becoming a CEO, making it into Hollywood, etc. The best part is that users who are experts in the area host each room. In other words, your learning will come from credible and reliable sources.

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4. Follow the Guidelines

Users have raised numerous complaints regarding the lack of Clubhouse rules to regulate the content and protect users from abuse. For instance, one user expressed her disgust on Twitter when she entered a room that talked about why it was okay to hate Jews. The moderator of the said room had already apologized and claimed that she did not intend to offend or hurt anyone. In response to Clubhouse’s alleged leniency with—or lack of—harassment protocols and content regulation, it issued a statement condemning anti-Blackness, anti-Semitism, hate speech, and abuse. To make true to its promise, Clubhouse followed up with a list of guidelines and rules, such as allowing moderators to block, report, and mute in-house rooms and investigating violations promptly.

Wrap It All Up

All in all, Clubhouse offers you a fun way to learn and grow. Not only does it enable you to meet (in this case, hear!) your favorite celebrities but it also gives you a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to share a stage with experts in the fields you are interested in. Just remember to be respectful to everyone you interact with and follow these tips: master the Clubhouse features, practice etiquette, find the right topic for you, and follow the guidelines.

How do you plan on using the Clubhouse app for your Influencer Marketing campaigns?

Sources:

Guide to Finding the Right Influencer Marketing Agency
Why Brands are Demanding Dynamic Content on Social Media
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