When Clubhouse launched in April 2020, the world saw an explosion of excitement surrounding the new exclusive app. People were convinced this was the next TikTok, but now it’s a year on and the buzz surrounding the audio social media app has died down. To recap; Clubhouse is an exclusive, invite only social media app that only functions through audio chat rooms. You don’t post photos, you don’t collect likes, you open into discussions on the topics that interest you. You could find yourself in a chat room debating with Elon Musk (yes, really). It was a new concept (or a very old concept depending on how you look at it) and it certainly attracted a lot of attention to begin with. eBay saw mass sales of exclusive invites to the app going live on it’s site and the app itself secured hundreds of millions in funding to help elevate it to the levels of its key competitors. But is Clubhouse really a challenger to Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, Twitter, LinkedIn and WhatsApp? Each platform has it’s niche (and a story feature for some reason), Instagram at it’s core is a photo album, LinkedIn a job market, Twitter a discussion platform, WhatsApp an encrypted messaging service, TikTok a quick video app, and Facebook a friendship hub. None of these platforms boast an audio debating platform, so why isn’t Clubhouse still exploding despite having its niche? It’s kinda… boring.
Social media is dominated by GenZ, it’s just a fact. They were brought up on it and, apart from LinkedIn, tend to be the testing ground for social media explosions. Take TikTok or Instagram for example. So why doesn’t Clubhouse work with GenZ? A short attention span. Apps are now built to fit around an attention span that lasts no longer than 5 seconds, we consume, we move on, we consume, we move on. An endless cycle of media consumption in short condensed bursts. Why wait for content when we can go to another app and get it instantly? Clubhouse does not cater to that demographic. Clubhouse is waiting your turn, it’s listening patiently, it’s joining hour long discussions. It’s just slow. Clubhouse is something incredible, but too late to the party. It is perhaps a creation built perfectly for what the internet originally was thought to be a platform for: collaboration, creativity, and community. An idealistic platform where we don’t log on to procrastinate and fake how good our life is, but to learn, discuss and improve as a community of like minded people. It’s a great idea, but it doesn’t seem to fit in with the fast pace internet world we now surround ourselves in. Perhaps, this is why it’s dying. For me, I love the idea, but to be completely honest, I haven’t opened the app in months. Have you? Tweet us at @zyncdigital your thoughts on the app!