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Clubhouse
p/clubhouseThe social audio app
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Aaron O'Leary

The New Clubhouse - Clubhouse has reinvented itself as an audio messaging app.

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Clubhouse is back. The app that popularized social audio rooms is reinventing itself “to be more like a messaging app” with new voice-only group chats called “chats,” as detailed in a blog post from the company.

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Aaron O'Leary
Hunter
📌
Admittedly, I totally forgot about Clubhouse, despite spending so many hours on it in 2020. The new update looks pretty cool, I'm curious if it can recapture the hype it had in the early days
Ryan Hoover
Big shift from its live synchronous + follower model to async + friend model. The UX is very intuitive and clean. It delivers that feeling of running into a friend at an event. I shared some thoughts about this on Airchat, another async audio network. The two apps have similar functionality but very different graph models. Clubhouse is friend-focused where Airchat is interest-focused. They both serve different use cases, although long term the two will likely expand to compete with one another. Curious to hear other's take on this! What's your first impression of the new Clubhouse?
Ben South Lee
@rrhoover I gravitate towards the AC use case, but I'm a fan of the design paradigm Clubhouse introduced with the new update—it really does feel like a social gathering.
Kasey Baughan
@rrhoover I feel awkward initiating the conversation with my friends like this. Maybe if they can create a compelling prompt or find a way to gamify it, it could help overcome that. Maybe prompt a spicy question among your friends each day. The answer with the most likes wins the prize for that day. I don't know. I just don't think raw async voice messages will work. It needs some structure. But kudos to them for the willingness to pivot from sync voice chat when it was not working.
Rajiv Ayyangar
@rrhoover early but I kinda love it! It's like texting but higher bandwidth. In a way it kinda reminds me of Honk https://www.producthunt.com/prod... in that it adds a dimension to text. (Honk: realtime, CH2: higher bandwidth).
Chris Messina
Top Hunter
From Odeo to Anchor and then OG Clubhouse, social audio continues to try to find its niche, and messaging might be the necessary wedge to drive engagement, but how will Clubhouse drive awareness and distribution in this market? Audio messaging is all but a commodity at this point. Will teens flock to this iteration of social audio?
Cristina Bunea
@chrismessina do you think the intention is to go after teens though? the product itself to me feels like it's targeted at a slightly older audience
Chris Messina
Top Hunter
@cristinaibunea mm, yeah, I agree — but typically the secret of growth in social is to go after the younger demographic to keep a steady stream of new users... so if it's not teens, is Paul basically the target user persona? :)
Bhargav Patel
Aah! The new changes are interesting. Feels like a better Snapchat without videos! 😉 However, I loved Clubhouse for how it let us speak and host those unrestricted audio rooms. Been using its alternative application Breakout Audio on my phone. The good old days - posts, likes, communities, and more! I hope Clubhouse will make the app cool again with the new update!
Gary Fung
It’s dead. This makes it even more pointless. If it can’t compete with Twitter Spaces, how is it going to compete with WhatsApp, iMessage, Messenger which all have tap and hold voice messaging?
Moin Shaikh
The new Clubhouse versions looks pretty clean and intuitive. However, I'm curious to see if it can regain the momentum it had when the app was pioneer in the voice-messaging space back in 2020. Personally, I believe that Clubhouse still can recapture the market even though there are a handful of competitors but I would like to hear fellow community members' thoughts on this.
Chris Messina
Top Hunter
@moingshaikh what is the market to be captured?
Moin Shaikh
@chrismessina I'm referring to recapture the social audio market. The market-space with focus on audio-messaging/voice messaging apps such as Clubhouse, Facebook Audio Rooms, Twitter Spaces etc.
Chris Messina
Top Hunter
@moingshaikh do Facebook Audio Rooms still exist? I know X Spaces still exist, but they're mostly for crypto [scams] and QAnon followers these days.
Moin Shaikh
@chrismessina agreed about Facebook Audio Rooms. However, I am not too sure about X Spaces. I am of the opinion that they are still used and relevant (not as widely as before, though) among social audio community.
Minh Do
I think live/social audio was in a kind of stagnant place. And it was tough if we compare audio content, as an audience member, to podcasts and radio, Clubhouse and Twitter Spaces both struggle. So I think it’s a wise decision to experiment with a new format that is still audio-first. I think there’s still space for an audio-centric social media app and it seems to me Clubhouse is the player with the most dedication and wisdom for the medium.
Tinh Khac
dokhactinh
Wow hadn't thought about Clubhouse for ages - nice to see these changes
Arjun Das
Nice. Remembering olden days!
Kayode Odeleye
Very interesting @aaronoleary but I am really sceptical they can recapture that magic. The world seems to have moved on. Time will tell...
Tyler Martin
Lots of platitudes I see here, probably placating thr VCs who got duped into supporting them during the ridiculous first round of hype. Audio is a one way, max two way, channel. Plus every existing messaging and social platform already has audio. This has no chance.
Ikenna Anunuso
I guess exclusive to iOS again lol
Tania Jareen
Definitely, agree with your view
Jessica Brohns
My friends and I hate this update. Some avoid updating the app.
kafi wilson
I'm with Ryan hoover. Agreed
Kirill Sokol
Deserves a second chance 🍀 👍🏻 Good luck
ALI ROSTAM ABADI
I have problem in update Google play
Hannah
The time when I first used Clubhouse is a wonderful memory.