If you didn’t know what Clubhouse was a week ago, there’s a decent chance you’re aware of the exclusive audio chat platform now — even if you haven’t been invited to join.
In just the last few days, Tesla CEO Elon Musk, Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev, entrepreneur and activist Kim Dotcom, and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg spoke on the platform, collectively drawing tens of thousands of live listeners and sparking spillover rooms.
While I first signed up for the app this summer, I finally decided to spend a solid day there (with a few hours of sleep) on Thursday, Feb. 4, given the widespread intrigue. The app, launched in March and still in beta mode, originally served as a forum for venture capitalists and entrepreneurs to pontificate about tech and raising capital. But it’s become much more than that.
Clubhouse Drop-in audio chat app logo on the App Store is seen displayed on a phone screen. (Photo illustration by Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
It turns out Thursday was a memorable day to stay glued to the platform, though many users called it “just another day on Clubhouse.” I hopped on at 7 a.m. PT to find several groups reeling from one man’s racist behavior the night before and later listened to Lindsay Lohan and Perez Hilton talk about a potential “Mean Girls” reunion before a surprise appearance at the end of the day from Mark Zuckerberg.
Clubhouse has deep roots in the VC community, and Andreessen Horowitz led its latest $100 million round of funding, bringing the company’s post-money valuation to $1 billion. Marc Andreessen is one of the key and most consistent participants and moderators on the app, particularly in a nightly room called “The Good Time Show,” hosted by husband and wife duo Aarthi Ramamurthy, director of Facebook’s communities products, and Sriram Krishnan, who was just named Andreessen’s newest general partner. Both Musk and Zuckerberg joined that room for their Clubhouse cameos.
Bad actors can still proliferate
One million users signed up for Clubhouse between Jan. 30 and Feb. 1 (Musk grilled Tenev on Jan. 31). As of Feb. 2, the app had over six million users, according to digital data miner Vajresh Balaji. Unlike sites like Twitter and Instagram, a user must have a registered account to access the platform.
After the initial barrier to entry, the space is fluid. Anyone can start a room at any time. Several active early users host daily or weekly rooms, and often seamlessly plug the app’s features and suggest best practices. In addition to adding a bio and linking your Instagram (FB) and Twitter (TWTR) accounts, Clubhouse prominently displays the date you joined at the bottom of your profile. As with any new consumer tech platform, the idea of early adopter clout is widely championed. Every room has three strata — the speakers/moderators; users whom the speakers follow; listeners only.
Despite its unique medium (no video or written text), the pipes of Clubhouse appear eerily similar to social media juggernauts with bad actors proliferating the platform as it continues to grow. On Wednesday, a white man named David Markovich started a room called “Let’s all Welcome China and Japan to Clubhouse,” making himself the only moderator in a room full of Asian users, many of whom were there to connect with other Asians in their native language. This triggered chef Matt Delatour to create a room called “Why’s David Markovich moderating a room dedicated to Asians?”
Markovich, who runs a digital marketing firm called Online Geniuses, was removed as an administrator on Talk Club for violating Clubhouse’s community guidelines, but his profile remained intact and he continued to amass followers. I reached out to Markovich but did not get an immediate response. Clubhouse did not respond to multiple requests for comment on its suspension policy, which is mostly driven by individuals reporting bad behavior. This comes after self-described “9-figure” entrepreneur and investor J.T. Foxx was a moderator in several rooms selling a $2500 coaching course. His account was suspended but has since been reinstated.
The platform has also been criticized by Black users who say it silences Black voices by replicating the existing white power structures of Silicon Valley. A group of multi-racial women even started a change.org petition, crediting Black users for boosting the app’s popularity, and demanding that Clubhouse “hire more Black employees at every level and ensure that anti-Blackness within the company itself is addressed and prevented vigilantly.”
Despite the content moderation problems, I found myself drawn into the conversations, many of which center around the app’s own pitfalls. Here’s how I spent my day on Clubhouse.
‘You really have to treat it like a part-time job’
8 a.m. PT Based on my self-selected interests (TV, movies, spirituality, mindfulness, fitness, outdoors, BIPOC, East Asian, theater, entrepreneurship, angel investing, startups and philosophy, to name a few), I’m served a wide range of rooms to join, ranging from murder mystery games, DJ jam sessions and guided meditation to anti-racist groups and heated discussions about cancel culture.
Upon opening my app, the top conversations stemmed from Markovich. I joined one called “Safe from ‘David on Clubhouse’ - what happened?” where 150 people were discussing Markovich’s behavior in a forum hosted by three Black women who work in media.
The creator of the room plays the role of moderator, but can bring up others to speak. Depending on the size and popularity of the room, it’s likely the average user is relegated to the listen-only audience section, where they can raise their hand to speak. I was brought up as a speaker and disclosed that I am a journalist working on a Clubhouse story, and a few users DMed me on Twitter to share their experiences. A common thread was just how sticky and versatile the platform is.
Sha Cannon, a 49-year-old for-hire COO for startups and small businesses, hosts several rooms during the week, finding it an effective way to network. “Because the platform has live audio, I am able to show up to connect more than on other platforms. Without the obstacle of being ‘camera ready’ that video live streaming presents,” she said.
Marc Liu, a 34-year-old filmmaker, finds Clubhouse rooms the ultimate background noise, spending “at least 10-15 hours” on the app every day. “I don’t think I have ever encountered a social media app that generates this much time commitment; both for enjoyment and engagement, you really have to treat it like a part-time job,” he said.
He’s currently part of administering the vaccination effort in Orange County, California and finds that “listening in on the wide variety of conversations on Clubhouse helps pass the time and keeps me from feeling like I’m missing out on the goings on of the world while I’m at work.”
Lessons from an ‘urban monk’
10:30 a.m. PT I perused several popular rooms, including “How to Buy a House for $7500” (hint: don’t live in southern California), “All Things COVID Q+A w/ physicians & scientists,” “Elon Musk Removes #Bitcoin From his Twitter Bio” and “Insta-Hype: Ping Connect & Grow your Instagram and Brand.” Many of these spaces have a designated “expert” who hosts a vocal version of Reddit’s ask me anything.
Clubhouse has made it easy to leave a room simply by clicking on a small peace sign emoji. Unless the room includes only a handful of people or you were in the middle of speaking, there’s little pressure to stay in a room.
12:30 p.m. PT After four hours on the app, I began experiencing mental fatigue and fog. I stumbled upon a room called “The Art of Stopping Time: Lessons from a Monk” hosted by Dr. Pedram Shojai, who goes by the alias “urbanmonk.” I found a pilates workout on Instagram and stretched to Dr. Shojai’s soothing voice say “meditation is not optional, it’s like dental hygiene.” He also asked everyone to think about their relationship with the word “soul,” which he dubbed the “s-word.”
NEW YORK, NY - SEPTEMBER 26: Activist Pedram Shojai visits Build to discuss the film "Prosperity" at Build Studio on September 26, 2017 in New York City. (Photo by Bennett Raglin/Getty Images)
There were fewer people talking over each other, and it felt like a session I would have attended in person for a little bit of Zen. I saw Clubhouse CEO Paul Davison quietly pop in and out of a series of rooms. I did hear a lot of users saying “follow up with me on Twitter or LinkedIn.” Despite its audio-only nature, it’s heavily reliant on other social platforms to continue text-based communication.
1:10 p.m. PT So much advice! So many thought leaders! “Shark Tank” judge and real estate mogul Barbara Corcoran answered questions in the “Business Unusual” group. Several young entrepreneurs asked her for tips on diversification and entering new markets. She answered with lots of humor, just one of many guests who was visibly having fun connecting with a vast audience.
2 p.m. PT I gravitated toward conversations where BIPOC (Black, indigenous, and people of color) individuals shared solutions to make spaces — including Clubhouse — more equitable. I joined a room called “Racism and misogyny have no place here,” where several entrepreneurs of color heatedly discussed Clubhouse’s suspension policy and whether it’s a user’s duty to flag bad behavior or potential scams.
2:45 p.m. PT Oops! Time for a late lunch with a size of gossip. Perez Hilton hopped on with Lindsay Lohan, and they discussed her DJ-ing career, reminisced about the days of paparazzi and stretch limos and also brought up Daniel Franzese, who played Damian in “Mean Girls” alongside Lohan. It was a lighthearted session that had me feeling nostalgic.
4:30 p.m. PT One thing is abundantly clear — these conversations run LONG and at times circuitous because people come and go. The moderator guides the flow and keeps people focused on the topic of the room. For the most part, you can catch up pretty quickly to the gist of the chat, but sometimes it feels like you’re on tweet three of an infinite thread.
I jumped into a one-on-one conversation between Thomas Ma, the co-founder of marketing agency Sapphire, and Jaime Schmidt, the founder of Schmidt’s Naturals, which was acquired by Unilever for nine figures.
My turn to moderate
6 p.m. PT Stretch break! Water refill. Because now it’s my time to moderate! My husband and I started a room called “SAG Awards and Golden Globe nominations: AAPI represent,” where anyone could debrief the highlights and lowlights (“I May Destroy You” and “Minari” getting snubbed in the Golden Globes noms). We had chatted with Diane Paragas, the director of “Yellow Rose” and actresses Celia Au and Olivia Cheng, about Asian American representation in media. We also riffed on topics like the distinctions between Asian and Asian-American cinema and the popularity contests that still dominate all societal structures, especially Hollywood. At the peak of the talk, 150 people had joined.
9:20 p.m. PT The most consistently popular room on Clubhouse is “The Good Time Show.” With a Facebook executive and Andreessen Horowitz pair hosting the daily conversations, it’s the ultimate forum for tech execs to test out the app’s waters. From Musk to Reddit CEO Steve Huffman and on Thursday, Zuckerberg, the room hit its 5,000 person cap in less than a minute. Zuckerberg, billed as a “surprise guest,” joined the room at 9:30 p.m. PT and shared why the pandemic has renewed his belief that AR and VR will gain mainstream appeal. Side note: Zuckerberg’s Clubhouse name is “zuck23.” “Mark Zuckerberg” was already scooped up.
Two Facebook executives — Fidji Simo (head of the app) and Andrew Bosworth (vice president of AR and VR) — were the advertised guests and stayed on after Zuckerberg left the conversation. Like clockwork, the app started glitching as soon as Zuckerberg hopped off Clubhouse, with moderators losing control and getting kicked out of their own rooms.
Clubhouse’s head of community Stephanie Saffa Simon shared some insights about the overloaded servers and the serendipitous timing of the glitches, and talked about the surreal milestones of having Zuckerberg or Musk, but insisted the more intimate and music-focused rooms are what really create community on the platform.
Things escalated quickly — somehow I found myself in a room called MARK ZUCKERBERG BUYING CLUBHOUSE? The chatter continued late into the evening, with some of the familiar faces from earlier in the day swerving in and out.
Clubhouse started glitching after Mark Zuckerberg made a surprise appearance and caused the servers to crash
3:30 a.m. PT ish? Fell asleep while listening to “AllDayDreamingRadio: CoDreaming Productive Beats.” Perfect lo-fi to curb the tingling from the day’s conversations.
7 a.m. One more room — then my 24 hours is done! I found a Korean language room hosted by Sophia Hong, the founder of a beauty startup called “Mask Moments.” She moderated a room of 100 or so Koreans, most of whom were based in Korea, and was helping onboard them. She talked about how she had never fully connected with any other social media platforms until she found Clubhouse. “There’s a feeling of building something together and having a more interactive conversation,” she said in Korean.
I finally log off. It’s been an enlightening day, but it’s time for a 24-hour cleanse. Then again, there’s a chat with Zendaya tonight that I might have to tune into...
Melody Hahm is Yahoo Finance’s West Coast correspondent, covering entrepreneurship, technology and culture. Follow her on Twitter @melodyhahm.
