A Look Inside The Clubhouse

The buzzy social platform allows users to audio-chat with one another or listen as celebs, venture capitalists or anyone else with a mic, speaks to a roomful of online fans.

By Shelly BrisbinApril 8, 2021 10:29 am,

Clubhouse is a one-year-old social platform that’s generated lots of celebrity buzz, and even more venture capital cachet. This week, the service, where users gather in “rooms” for audio-only conversations about everything from Bitcoin to Bollywood, announced that hosts of these events can now accept payments from their followers and fans.

Tech expert Omar Gallaga told Texas Standard that Clubhouse rooms are a lot like conference sessions – speakers and moderators appear on stage, with others interested in the topic being discussed remaining in the audience. Many room moderators invite audience members onstage to ask a question or make a comment. Celebrities including Oprah Winfrey, Tiffany Haddish, Chris Rock and Elon Musk have all appeared in Clubhouse rooms.

Highlights from this segment:

– Right now, Clubhouse is invitation-only and limited to iPhone and iPad users.

– Conversations about venture capital, cryptocurrency and other topics of interest to technology fans are a preeminent aspect of Clubhouse, though pop culture is also prevalent.

– The platform has faced criticism for its privacy missteps, and for not doing enough to address hate speech.

– Twitter and other tech companies are preparing their own audio-only platforms to compete with Clubhouse.

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