At the beginning of the year, more precisely in February, Clubhouse appeared like a fever on the internet and there was nothing else to talk about. Everyone wanted to get into a room with famous people, from big names on the internet to television presenters, among other famous people from many other areas. But currently, how is the social network doing? It is common to find discussions on social media such as: “do people still use Clubhouse?” or “Is it really dead?” Stay on top of everything that’s happening with the audio social network in this article.
Clubhouse’s success on the internet
Launched in 2020, the social network had its rise in early 2021, at a time when the pandemic was intensifying again and required people to socially isolate. Clubhouse came with the premise of being a live audio social network, where, at first, only people with an invitation could participate. The news made a lot of noise and drove the internet into a frenzy. The internet has even described the social network as “Zoom with a community”, for example. During its explosion, Clubhouse experienced an enviable and very large growth. In February alone, Clubhouse already had 10 million users, despite being only available for iOS. Before long, the app became a perfect place for conversations about what was hot with interesting discussions, which involved various topics. It was even possible to find ‘mentorships’ for businesses made by big names in the area. Quickly, the advertising market realized a perfect opportunity to communicate with consumers in a more instant and personal way, due to the popularity among users. Brands of all types and places in the world have created their own rooms. Many of them also partnered with moderators and people who gained influence within the social network to bring their brand to new audiences. Aiming at the ‘live’ feature and a large number of users, the NFL has partnered with Clubhouse to create clubs with several thematic discussion rooms, exclusively focused on the Draft Week (Event of recruiting new league players). Sports fans could enter the clubs and follow the events live. It was possible to hear exclusive conversations with the participation of athletes and coaches and even be invited to ask questions on the virtual stage.
It created competition on other social networks
The application’s success was so expressive that it attracted the attention of consolidated social networks in the market and made them start to develop group communication resources in a live format to compete. And so, it lost relevance and Clubhouse started to die out. In June, Facebook created Live Audio Rooms, a version that competes directly with Clubhouse. The feature works within the Facebook app. To participate as a listener, it is possible to enter the rooms via both iOS and Android, but any user can be invited to speak within the platform. There is a limit of 50 speakers in the room. The feature has a number of advantages over Clubhouse, such as an unlimited number of listeners in the same room, notifications when friends or followers enter a room, live subtitles, among others. Instagram has also greatly developed its live-streaming capabilities. One of the added features was the ability to turn cameras and microphones on and off during transmissions, which brought more flexibility to users. Another update was the “Live Chatrooms” which allows broadcasts with up to 4 participants. Another social network that launched its own audio resource was Twitter with Twitter Spaces. The feature also has some advantages over Clubhouse. Similar to the Facebook version, there is no limit on the number of listeners and only 12 speakers are allowed per room and, for now, only a few users can create chat rooms. Spotify also launched its audio chat conversation app, Greenroom. The application has the proposal to bring a thematic experience, focusing on music, sports, and culture. Other platforms have also released features to follow the trend, such as Telegram and Discord. Seeing all this growing competition, in May Clubhouse announced a version for Android users, which was considered too late by many.
Why was Clubhouse a success?
We can say that one of the reasons why Clubhouse became popular was its easy access to famous people. It was possible to access celebrities, CEOs, and the like. The starting point was when Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, announced the app on his Twitter, making it one of the most downloaded apps on the Apple Store. After this fact, many celebrities, businessmen, and politicians from around the world started to use the social network. Users could hear international names like Mark Zuckerberg, Oprah, Justin Bieber, Jared Leto, Drake, Kevin Hart, and many others. Gradually, Clubhouse allowed fans to listen and participate if they were brought on stage and this allowed people to find chat rooms with their favorite celebrities, whether national or international. In the beginning, those who already had access to the app could send a link to other people so that they could also participate. Due to the fact it was an invite-only app, it created a sense of exclusivity for Clubhouse, and its loss is one of the factors why people say it is dead. Along with the fact that it was also not possible for users to record conversations, it further strengthened the sense of exclusivity. In this model, there is a greater chance for the user to meet and talk to people who think the same as them, which reinforces the feeling of being part of an exclusive club. Clubhouse really brought a great new look. Its main differential was the live audio feature. The social network was an ideal space for people to chat without distractions. The most frequent users even said that being in a room with selected people and being able to hear important people speaking, created the feeling of intimacy and involvement much stronger than other social networks. The presence of moderators in the rooms gave an aspect of more organization and productivity. Hosts could mute and unmute the speakers and participants had to raise their hand before being approved by the speakers to speak. All of this kept the rooms relevant and more subjects could be covered.
Clubhouse is dying slowly
The apex of app downloads in February was 9.6 million, in March the downloads dropped to 2.7 million, and in April, 900,000. In addition, Clubhouse had a reduction of almost 70% in average monthly users. But, why? We can say that the great probability of the fall of the social network is because it came as a fad. According to a survey by Business Insider, 88% of the 5,000 participants say they no longer use Clubhouse because it was a fad. Although it now has a version for Android users, many believe the Social Network was a hit during the pandemic because people needed to talk because of social isolation. So, as people embrace reckless behavior or are forced back to work, they end up not having the same free time to listen to Clubhouse conversations. There is also the fact that, with the availability of Android and the end of blocking restrictions, users can now meet with their friends and chat directly, without the need to listen to other people’s conversations and participate only as listeners.
Why are people saying Clubhouse is dead?
Below, we’ve listed some of the reasons that can be taken in trying to explain why people say Clubhouse is dying,
1. Competition war
Many Clubhouse users preferred to migrate to services created by competitors who also made available their “Clubhouse’s” (cited above) and which have an undeniable relevance on the internet. By developing their own audio resources, these platforms are transforming themselves into full-fledged social networks, which consequently can provide their users with everything they need. These platforms are already well established and have a very large user base worldwide.
2. Excessive notifications
Anyone who has used Clubhouse has already noticed the excessive amount of notifications from the social network. While notifications are important (especially considering the live feature), the impression one gets is that there is a notification for every possible interaction with the app. Check out the most common:
When someone you’ve saved to your contact list enters the app; When someone you follow in the app starts a room; When someone you follow speaks in a room; When someone you follow schedules an upcoming conversation; When a conversation is scheduled for a club you follow; If someone you know calls you into a room.
Obviously, the more you interact with members, clubs, and conversations, the more notifications you’ll receive. And this is one of the frequent complaints from many users. They claim that the bombing of notifications becomes a nuisance.
3. No longer exclusive
Until June, it was only possible to access the social network with a registration made through an invitation link. After the launch of competitors, Clubhouse was forced to provide an Android version, and, in a way, this contributed to the loss of exclusivity present in the launch of the application. Today, after having accumulated a large number of users, it has lost its “closed community” feature, which has also contributed to losing its exclusive status. Although the conversations are still live, there are many rooms the same, which means that many users are offering the same information at the same time and it causes users to be disinterested in participating in the chats.
4. New features
Like any social network, Clubhouse has launched several features since the beginning of the year. This is also a response to trying to stop the drastic decrease in the user base that happens month after month. Below, we’ve listed some of their major updates released so far:
Recording and trimming clips of up to 30 seconds that can be shared on social media; Universal search box to find people, rooms, groups, and content; Spatial audio support in the Android version; Native recording and the possibility of replaying chats; Availability of text chat rooms; “Clubhouse Links”, which provide the possibility of creating unique and permanent links to create conversations; Pinning links at the top of chat rooms.
5. The future of the platform
The birth of Clubhouse boosted the audio market, which is becoming an increasingly strong trend and showing that it has a consumer audience. A great example of this is Podcats. Even without the prestige it gained at the beginning, to say that Clubhouse will end is a presumptuous and uncertain attitude. The fact is, with the constant release of new features in an attempt to catch its breath, there are great possibilities for the social network to stabilize again.
Did you like to find out whether Clubhouse is dead or not?
Have you been able to enjoy all of our content on the latest Clubhouse news? So, be sure to write a comment telling us if you are or have been a user of the platform and what you think about the future of the social network.
