Real-time conversation app Clubhouse has had an incredibly fast start. There are reasons to question its long-term staying power. But as the example of Apple shows, there are also reason to question those reasons.
For anyone not aware of the social conversation’s app brief but remarkable history to date, Clubhouse was launched in April 2020 on the iPhone only. It’s marketing has been helped along by creating the lure of exclusivity (one cannot simply sign up; you have to be invited by a current user) and people like Elon Musk and Bill Gates popping up in Clubhouse rooms.
As of late March 2020, the iPhone app had been downloaded more than three million times. An Android version is in the works.
For content creators, Clubhouse provides a forum where you can set up a “room,” invite people (and other Clubhouse users can decide to join in), and have a conversation. Audience members can “raise their hands” to be invited to speak.