Clubhouse – the invite-only chat

Clubhouse – the invite-only chat

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Want to know why you're hearing a lot about the Clubhouse lately?

By appearing in a Clubhouse room in January, the world's richest man, Elon Musk, brought a lot of attention to the service.

But after all, do you know what this app actually is and what it's for? Besides, is this a new instagram?

Here's what you need to know about the unique chat app everyone is talking about.

What is the clubhouse

Imagine you have an app on your phone that lets you listen in on other people's live conversations.

But not in a scary way; these people want to be heard.

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They might even be famous, or at least interesting or knowledgeable, as you won't always know that.

And you may have the opportunity to join the chat. Think of it as an audio chat social network.

At first this seems very strange, but when entering the application everything becomes much clearer, after all, it is in practice that you learn.

Clubhouse is currently only available for iOS. Any iPhone user can download the app, which is where you listen to conversations and how you participate.

But then isn't everyone able to participate?

No. At the time of writing, you need an invite from an existing Clubhouse user to gain access.

Each new user receives two invites and earns more as they use the app. Ask your friends if they have one.

You can buy an invitation on eBay or try a “pay it forward” invitation network, but be careful about invitation scams.

It might be best to wait for the Clubhouse to open up to the world.

Although the application was initially developed for the iPhone, with very good reasons, mainly due to its optimization.

An Android app is being developed. Developers want to scale slowly, and there are more Android users than iPhone users worldwide.

Starting on Android may have killed Clubhouse's servers after a publicity stunt

Still, reaching 3 million users in the short period of time represents a huge growth, even compared to large social networks.

And what about registration?

You must provide Clubhouse with your phone number and your real name (in theory).

You can register the username you want for the service before you even receive an invite.

The person inviting you simply needs your phone number.

You will receive a text link telling you to visit joinclubhouse.com/app and log in with that number.

Link your Twitter account to Clubhouse if you don't want to create a profile from scratch; it will even pull your existing Twitter profile picture.

Clubhouse also encourages you to link your contacts in order to make it easier for you to find people to follow.

Don't worry if you don't have a contact list full of influencers.

After logging in, check your email address with the service to have it as a method to reconnect if there is a problem.

And regarding conversations, what do I need to know?

When you finally gain access, the app offers a page full of conversation topics to follow, from sports to technology, world affairs, faith and “hustle” and so on.

In each one, you will find people interested in the same thing and you can follow them.

The more topics and people you follow, the more likely you are to get suggestions for a room that suits your desires.

Chat rooms come and go as people start or end them.

Clubhouse says it logs conversations as they happen, but only retains them if someone files a complaint while the room is active.

If no one reports an incident during the chat, Clubhouse says it discards the recording once the host is done with the discussion.

Users, of course, are finding many ways to record chats for their own purposes. The internet is still forever.

Final thoughts on the Clubhouse

Right now, Clubhouse is for people who like to talk and miss an audience – like underprivileged celebrities – or lurkers who want to be the target of interesting conversations.

The Clubhouse could be the balm they need during another COVID winter.

Eventually, as it grows into a big business, it could be a new medium we should all be keeping an eye on.

If you liked it, you can chat with friends or try to join groups to get an invite, nowadays this is not so difficult.

Once you enter, tell us in the comments what you think.

Hope this helps.