Clubhouse, a mobile social audio app launched exclusively only for iOS users in the beginning of 2020. After a few months of development, Clubhouse has recently announced that it will be coming to Android smartphones. For those who are still not too familiar with the app, here are a few facts you should know before installing this app.
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The Early Win
The app gained its momentum by successfully capturing an immense number of users with a total of 13 million downloads globally and still gaining momentum with 1.3 millions of downloads after 2 months of the release.
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Popular Topics
As a newcomer with the formation of drop-in “audio chat,” Clubhouse enables its users to join any chat rooms focusing on different topics. Meanwhile, Britopian’s analysis shows that topics related to sales, social media, deep technology, and start ups are on top of the popularity. The good news is a tremendous amount of public figures, celebrities, and experts from different industries have participated to share their expertise knowledge or even insight on their latest projects on the platform. This proved that Clubhouse successfully attracted the users as it gives many beneficial insights for them.
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Stumbling Blocks
However, despite the advance popularity towards the relatively new app, Clubhouse seems to face many challenges. Several reports identified that Clubhouse has failed to protect people from violence which is one of the many controversies related to bullying and racism. Another issue is related to Data Protection Regulations, as people are claiming that Clubhouse is suspected of harvesting contact information to create shadow profiles of persons who have never actually signed up. Moreover, Clubhouse’s absence from Android devices in the beginning made it impossible for popular users to connect with a large portion of their target audience who are Android users.
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What can Clubhouse contribute to the PR industry?
Social media platforms are excellent for PR practitioners to engage and interact with journalists, and simultaneously learn about topics and issues that journalists are currently interested in. It provides PR practitioners with amazing opportunities to get tips and a much deeper understanding of what the journalists are looking for in the pitches. Therefore, do not resist the opportunity to include this app where users' voices are always the main character.
In a nutshell, first and foremost Clubhouse is widely known for its features to connect people in live sessions where users can engage real audiences in real-time discussions. Moreover, with the huge range of participants in using this platform to make connections and give helpful advice, there’s no doubt this app is worth installing.
Separately social media platforms are constantly evolving and growing bigger. Every social media platform has benefits and disadvantages. The benefits for PR are considered as many, however our recommendation is to still support other social media channels and never over-invest in a particular platform.
Written by Stella Mariss, Interns
