Clubhouse and the Future of Cult-Driven Social Platforms

So what role does Clubhouse play? I think Clubhouse is quite literally Socrates' Athenian Agora; it's Oral Culture implemented online in its full glory, for the first time. We should expect it to exhibit all of the virtues and pathologies of Oral Culture for sure -- but since we have lived mainly in a Textual culture for the last 300 years, Clubhou... See more

The most buzzy of these startups is Clubhouse, an audio-based social network where people can spontaneously jump into voice chat rooms together. You see the unlabeled rooms of all the people you follow, and you can join to talk or just listen along,

On trend and on theme, Clubhouse leverages the last unused social channel (voice) at a time when people are tired of seeing each other on Zoom videos and want a bit of spontaneity, serendipity and joy in their lives.

Zoom Bachelorette tapped into everything I love about consumer tech. Every product that makes it easier for individuals to create gives rise to novel behaviors and ingenuity in applications. Breakthrough consumer apps—from Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Twitch, TikTok, and now Clubhouse—all satisfy a core user need and make it simpler to express one... See more

But curating, developing, and promoting the best content and Clubhouse-native talent is a crucial task to impress new users and keep people engaged.

And, is the correct goal for Clubhouse solely to be the app where people listen to and participate in Clubhouse rooms? Or is there a bigger platform opportunity? Should Clubhouse rooms be embeddable anywhere, accessible via web browsers and third-party apps? The lesson from YouTube is probably yes. The lesson from Twitter is probably no.

And for Clubhouse, moderation issues promise to be particularly difficult — and if the app is to ever escape closed beta successfully, will require sustained attention and likely some product innovation.