Clubhouse as the new social media hype: elites among themselves

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Just talk: Clubhouse social networking app

Photo: Florian Gaertner / photothek.de / imago images / photothek

It would probably never have come this far without the raspberry cream cake.

Her real name is Ann-Katrin Schmitz, the Hamburg resident is an influencer and social media expert.

Last Saturday, the 30-year-old published a video on Instagram in which she raved about the "hottest, latest social media app 2021": Clubhouse.

Because Schmitz followed 118,000 people, including advertisers, media people and celebrities like TV entertainer Joko Winterscheidt, word got around quickly, at least within the bubble.

The number of clubhouse users grew just as quickly, because one of the widespread fears, even in times of a pandemic, is that of missing out on something.

Clubhouse is a collection of virtual meeting rooms.

Panel discussions are held in each, some with a few dozen, some with a few thousand listeners.

The lights never go out in the clubhouse, there is always talk somewhere.

What makes the app special is what it lacks: You can hear the discussants but not see them, only their profile picture.

There is no camera that you would have to turn off in order to remain unobserved.

This is in line with the habits in the home office, where some people do their everyday office life in pajamas.

Schmitz says that the renewed lockdown was "certainly the accelerator" that the app from the USA now also had its breakthrough in Germany. 

"I'm Kevin, and this is my third talk today" 

What many people are sorely missing at the moment are visits to restaurants or the cinema.

Some apparently also miss out on taking part in conferences, such as the re: publica in Berlin, which took place only online in 2020, or the OMR Festival in Hamburg, which was canceled completely.

Eager for exchange and self-expression, they have found a new home on the app.

And new listeners.

So far, mostly residents of the media and marketing bubble have moved into the clubhouse.

In addition, political advisors and top political personnel.

A large part of the house residents apparently lives in Berlin-Mitte, at least spiritually.

Some of the rounds seem like a hipster edition of “Maybritt Illner”.

A walk through the clubhouse on Monday evening: SPD boss Saskia Esken discussed the advancement of women.

A group discussed whether the digital CDU party congress was a good model.

A "Bild" employee debated human rights in China with an FDP MP.

Gallery owner Johann König gave tips on buying art.

A sommelier answered questions about natural wines and tastings.

Young entrepreneurs exchanged ideas about starting a business, amateur athletes about their marathon training during the lockdown.

Some events breathed the spirit of the classic salon, some of the requests to speak sounded more like a circle of chairs: "I'm Kevin, and this is my third talk today." 

To give the clubhouse an exclusive look, only those who have been invited by a member are allowed in.

Whoever is inside can make up for two more people.

In Corona language: The R-value for the clubhouse spread is 2. Most of the time, the infection occurs within your own milieu, you stay to yourself.

There is a second reason for this: So far, Clubhouse only works on Apple devices.

"A large part of the population does not earn enough to be able to afford Apple products," says OMR founder Philip Westermeyer, one of the first users.

"That's why Clubhouse hardly ever reaches normal people." And probably doesn't want to.

Clubhouse is a place of longing for the elites.

Here they are among themselves, having surprisingly calm conversations instead of having to deal with hateful Twitter users.

In some rounds, which in those first few days often revolve around the app itself, the spirit of the early Internet years can be felt: a social utopia in which you can talk together across borders.

Unlike social networks like Gab or Parler, Clubhouse was not invented to give right-wing extremists or conspiracy theorists a space in which to rage.

Clubhouse is more aimed at those who already have a large platform elsewhere and are now no longer looking for more reach, but more intimacy.

Lots of rules, hardly controlled

The company behind the app is called Alpha Exploration Co and is based in the US state of Utah, a stronghold of the devout Mormons, where sympathy for overly revealing media is limited.

Paul Davison, Clubhouse co-founder and Stanford alumnus, is the antithesis of Puritanism.

He has already invented »Shorts«, a photo app that asked its users to make their entire photo library public, visible to everyone.

A service that no longer exists.

Clubhouse applies the idea to language instead of photos, otherwise the concept is similar.

The app wants uncurated, spontaneous speaking, live and raw.

You don't ask for access to the photos, but to the address book on the user's smartphone if you want to invite more.

In Silicon Valley and with large venture capitalists with a lot of broadcast awareness, this is well received.

Clubhouse is now worth $ 100 million.  

If you want to be there, you have to be at least 18 years old and you are asked to use your real name.

Both are intended to improve the discourse, but are not controlled, like many other things.

Spreading fake news is prohibited, as is recording or transcribing conversations, but in practice this will be difficult to verify.

And this at a time when Facebook and Twitter have come under public pressure to mark false information as such.

Criticism of the artificial shortage

Strict rights have apparently not yet found their way into the clubhouse.

No top AfD man, no Attila Hildmann.

However, that is less due to the moderation than to the restrictive invitation policy.

As long as only capital elites attract other capital elites to the app, no link ends up with AfD right winger Björn Höcke. 

Dunja Hayali is already there.

The ZDF presenter has built her career on getting into conversation with people who feel forgotten by the public service media.

She discussed with Pegida demonstrators, AfD fans and journalists from the »Junge Freiheit«, on Twitter she regularly wrestles with critics.

Now she also finds herself in clubhouse discussions, but she struggles with the bubble. 

The still sealed off rooms are pleasant, says Hayali, "because you can really exchange content there without disturbing people."

On the other hand, she is critical of the artificial scarcity that locks out the majority of the audience, as well as "the growing demand to get content and speakers for free".

According to the New York Times, the company in the US is already considering paying its most valuable moderators to stay loyal to the app.

By then it will be clear that the hype is over for the time being.

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