Clubhouse – an invite-only social media app that is focused on the use of an audio-interface – has grown in popularity recently, reaching the realms of influencers and celebrities alike on the viral scene. On this app, once invited, members can host or join audio-only chat rooms. Since its inception, the volume of users has grown from 600,000 to 10 million, attesting to the app’s popularity with users.
Due to its rapid jump in popularity, many brands are now assessing the various ways in which they can utilize the app for promotional purposes – one of which is to create a community amongst their customer base.
The app is a relatively unknown phenomenon in the marketing world and, because of its invitation-only interface, learning about its features has been fairly tricky for some. Follow our guide below to discover more about this new social media trend, as well as the basics, to help you prepare for that all-important invite.
Snag an Invite
Available only by invite to iPhone users, it’s up to you to source an invite from another person. This is fairly simple if you know of any friends or colleagues already using the app who wouldn’t mind extending an invite your way. If you are unable to do this, it is still possible to register for a Clubhouse account while you wait – you will see a notification stating that your account is pending. On a basic profile, you can provide contact details and list a couple of topics you’re interested in, after which a loading screen will inform you of your pending status.
Meanwhile, any contacts of yours on the app will be notified of your position on the waitlist, and can then send you an invite to join if they should wish.
Follow People and Topics of Interest
As already mentioned, one step in the signing-up process involves the provision of details regarding topics you’re interested in. The app provides you with an extensive list of topics from which you can choose to help you customize your content, and this is then combined with your current list of contacts to improve your suggestions. This step is not necessarily essential – you can return at another point if you have yet to think of who and what to follow.
Perfecting Your Profile
When you are setting up your profile, the app allows you the opportunity to link your Twitter profile, using the information there to form an autogenerated profile for you. You can, however, add your own picture and write a brief description about yourself.
Due to the very recent inception and growth in popularity of the app, it’s not yet clear whether any information used in your profile affects your position in the app’s search feature. The information that is available, though, will help others gauge whether you share interests, hobbies, or mutual friends.
As well as your Twitter profile, it is also possible to link your Instagram profile to your Clubhouse account – both of which will show up on your profile with linked icons.
Start Exploring
As with Instagram, the clubs and people suggested to you are influenced by the topics you show interest in and the people you’re already connected with. The Explore page also contains a vast array of suggestions for people, clubs, and topics you might enjoy. Rather than just randomly searching for these, it is also possible to use the tab feature to identify specific people, clubs, rooms, or topics you want to follow.
Clubs – What Are They?
When a substantial number of users want to explore the same topic, they can join a club, within which there are individual rooms where members can discuss different related topics. To locate clubs, you can look through the Explore tab or click on the search bar, select clubs, and search a topic. Following and unfollowing a club works in much the same way as it does on most social media apps – simply click on the relevant button.
Each member has to ensure that they have hosted either three discussions or rooms on the app before they can start their own club. To do this, access your profile and locate the settings tab, which will take you to the FAQ page where you can read the club rules and the application instructions. Upon approval, you have the ability to edit the club’s profile and launch rooms.
Entering a Room
As previously ascertained, rooms are audio-only and essentially function as an audio chatroom. If you want to enter a room, all you need to do is tap on your chosen room. Each new person to join the room initially starts off muted, only able to listen to the discussion taking place on ‘the stage’ – the area where the moderator and speakers names can be viewed on screen. A useful feature of this element is the inclusion of a party popper emoji next to the names of new members, making it easier to identify those unused to the process.
The hand icon located at the bottom of the room page is how you request to speak during a discussion. If you decide that you would like to join in on a discussion for whatever reason – you have a related point or you want to ask a questions – there’s a hand icon at the bottom of the room page for you to click, notifying the moderator of your wish to contribute. Then, it is at the moderator’s discretion to choose whether to allow you into the conversation or not. Should the moderator choose to unmute you and allow to move to ‘the stage’, anything you contribute must be on topic and be relayed expediently. Furthermore, you’ll need to allow other people time to speak and finish their thought-process, and try not to jump in with your opinion too often – this will help you to remain unmuted.
On occasion, you may find yourself being ignored or overlooked by a moderator – this is nothing personal and is often more frequently related to the moderator’s concern regarding losing control over the discussion, which can occur when one too many voices are in the mix.
Once you’ve mastered the basics, it’s possible to then invite your friends to join you in various clubs and rooms, where you can either listen to or join discussions about topics you are interested in. While many influencers and casual social media users have yet to jump on the Clubhouse train, you have a unique opportunity to familiarize yourself with the app in its early stages, so take full advantage of this and enjoy!