Clubhouse throws big challenge to Facebook, Twitter

Hyderabad: Judging by the amount of buzz around Clubhouse, it feels like the audio chat social network has been around forever – or at least more than 14 months. But the reality is the app hasn't officially launched yet. The 'general release' date has yet to be announced, but Clubhouse has said it will not be before the July 4 weekend.

Clubhouse struck a chord during lockdown by enabling creators to host dozens or thousands of attendees in a room dedicated to whatever topic they like. "Clubhouse found itself in the middle of culture," says Clubhouse global head of marketing Maya Watson. Whether it's chats about the show Big Brother in Brazil, karaoke rooms in India or "people making cat noises at midnight, there's a room for you," she says.

On Clubhouse, there is something for everyone: rooms on pop culture, feminism, cricket, music, gaming and even religion and prayer. That variety is among the many reasons the invitation-only social audio app has taken off in India, where users of different ages, backgrounds, interests and even languages are coming together to discuss anything and everything, including topics the government would prefer they avoid.

But as parts of the world began to open up after the lockdown, people began to openly wonder whether drop-in audio chats would still be as relevant. After a two-month swoon, Clubhouse proved the doubters wrong to the tune of more than 6 million new downloads during the first three weeks of June, per the company. This was thanks in large part to its debut on Android. It's now approaching 30 million downloads overall globally.

Since its May 21 debut on Android, Clubhouse has found millions of takers in India, which accounted for the majority of the US-based app's downloads in the first half of June. But experts remain polarised about Clubhouse's future. Will it join the big leagues with Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, whose entrenchment in users' social habits is at least somewhat offset by hate speech and other challenges that come with scale? Or will Clubhouse follow the same fate as Foursquare, a once wildly popular social geolocation app, since cut down to size.

When Clubhouse launched on iOS in March 2020, it grew quickly in the United States, and caught the attention of app users around the world. But in Android-dominated countries like India, there was nothing to do but wait. By the time Clubhouse launched on Android in May 2021, its air of mystery and exclusivity was palpable, and Indians were clamouring to experience it for themselves.

In the first 22 days of June, more than 52 lakh Indians download Clubhouse. Between June 1 and June 22, a whopping 80% of Clubhouse downloads

came from India, which is already among the app'stop markets.

It did not hurt that both launches – iOS and Android – aligned with waves of Covid-19 in India, which forced millions into isolation and lockdown mode. The iOS app became available at a time when people were missing connections, hangouts, and networking and they were bored of webinars and live sessions. In India, Clubhouse also found a market primed for the audio experience. Audio platforms have been around for ages and podcasts have become common. The concept is well understood and that makes users comfortable.

Many of Clubhouse's strengths are global: It zeroed in on a gap in social platform offerings – audio –and used that gap to reimagine everything from the conference call to the open mic night.

But some of Clubhouse's advantages are particularly advantageous in India. People in tech and marketing often use the platform to host networking events. Renowned entrepreneurs like Unacademy's Gaurav Munjal, Flock's Bhavin Turakhia and CRED's Kunal Shah are active users. Late at night, comedians, musicians, and storytellers perform to grow audiences or simply unwind. Several Bollywood celebrities – actors, directors, fashion designers and others – have also started exploring rooms on the app. The live, transient nature of the conversations also means Clubhouse offers an uncensored and open platform to discuss politically sensitive topics when the government is controlling other social media apps. Earlier this year, the government asked Twitter, Facebook and Instagram to take down hundreds of accounts chiming in about farmers' protests and Covid-19 mismanagement, claiming misinformation. Clubhouse, reliant as it is on live audio – no transcripts or recordings are made available to users after the fact – has yet to face the same pushback.

But perhaps Clubhouse's biggest strength in India is how language-agnostic the app is. While its physical interface is mostly in English, the audio format means there are no linguistic barriers while speaking. People can find rooms in any language, including those not typically found on other social platforms.

Browsing the app in India reveals that several room titles appear in regional languages, and conversations occur in many vernaculars. Malayalis, for instance, have started rooms to discuss dosas, host karaoke nights and put up theatre shows. Startups in Tamil Nadu are using the app for recruitment purposes.

Clubhouse knows its unique capabilities around language are an advantage. In a town hall on June 2, co-founders Paul Davison and Rohan Seth hosted a Clubhouse conversation that was being translated by someone into Hindi in real-time. Davidson encouraged the audience ask questions in Hindi, Malayalam, Gujarati, Tamil, Telugu, Punjabi or English. "Someone on stage speaks any of these languages," he said.

Clubhouse has no doubt managed to carve a niche for itself. But the clock is ticking. They have a very tight and limited window to acquire new users before the social audio feature gets democratised.

That's already happening. In May, Twitter launched a similar offering with Twitter Spaces for accounts with more than 600 followers. On June 21, Facebook debuted Live Audio Rooms in the US. Spotify has a rival feature called Greenroom, and LinkedIn is also testing out a social audio experience.