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Photo: Christoph Dernbach / DPA
Luisa Neubauer speaks about climate protection and Christian Lindner about the FDP.
Many topics in the new Clubhouse social app seem to be expected, but the type of online communication is unusual.
At Clubhouse people talk to each other, live and without a picture.
You can think of it as a more or less interactive podcast or as a virtual online conference where some have a microphone and some don't.
Clubhouse is currently only available for iOS.
On iPhones, however, on Monday the app was the second most downloaded free app in Germany.
Where does the clubhouse hype come from?
And why are invitation codes for the app offered on Ebay?
The most important questions and answers - also on the subject of data protection.
How does the clubhouse work?
Clubhouse is based on conversations.
Members can open so-called rooms on specific topics.
These rooms can be set to private.
But they can also be open to everyone or only open to users who are followed.
Hosts of such rooms can also determine which participants can speak themselves and which can only listen.
Clubhouse also offers the function of virtually raising your hand in the style of video chat programs, which enables you to include requests to speak.
Clubhouse does not yet offer functions such as likes or written comments.
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When registering, you enter up to 5 areas of interest
Photo: Clubhouse
What sounds like a lot of interactivity has often worked more like a lecture: few speak and many listen without actually being able to interact.
Therefore, Clubhouse is currently best comparable to a podcast that is recorded live.
How do users find each other?
Individual persons or clubs can be found using the app's search function.
The latter are communities that have come together on specific topics.
For example, there is a club dedicated to female founders, one for NBA fans and one where black women exchange ideas about therapies.
These clubs are subordinate to categories from which users can select up to five when registering.
These categories and your own followers determine which rooms are displayed in the Clubhouse feed.
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In clubs, communities gather on a specific topic
Photo: Clubhouse
Incidentally, at Clubhouse you can always see who is currently part of a room, i.e. who is listening or speaking.
One cannot secretly overhear the conversations of strangers.
How can I participate in clubhouse discussions?
Clubhouse is still in a »private beta«, the app is currently not available to everyone.
The operators of Clubhouse state that they want to avoid overloading their service.
Interested parties can only join if existing users invite them using a code.
If you get access to the app in this way, you can invite two more people yourself.
For this you need the cell phone numbers of the other people.
Clubhouse invitations are currently even offered on Ebay: where demand exceeds supply, some smell business.
In principle, Clubhouse is free of charge.
However, a possible fee is already noted in the terms of use.
Who uses Clubhouse?
Since Clubhouse has not yet been released for Android, users are iPhone owners.
Once you have been activated for the app, it quickly becomes clear that in Germany, up until now, Clubhouse has mainly featured people who also have accounts with many followers on services such as Twitter.
People from the fields of politics, marketing and media seem to be particularly active.
Many rooms therefore revolve around how Clubhouse can be used successfully to disseminate products, opinions or publications.
There are also panel discussions about the app itself and its future.
For example, the question of whether musicians should use clubhouse or how the user base could become more diverse is being discussed.
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The feed in which current rooms are displayed
Photo: Clubhouse
Where does the clubhouse hype come from?
Restricting access to something is a proven marketing tool: it's about artificial scarcity.
Inviting people to use Clubhouse almost forces social media users to talk about the software - often on public channels.
And the fact that there are already some bigger names in the Twitter scene on Clubhouse makes the app interesting for their followers as well.
“Fear of missing out”, the fear of missing something, is probably one of the reasons for the sudden run on Clubhouse - because the app is not entirely new.
She was already known in the USA in summer 2020.
In addition to the marketing, the concept of the app is also interesting.
The basic idea is that people can come together and speak freely with one another.
The currently most popular social media apps are primarily based on text or images.
Twitter and Instagram also offer opportunities to communicate with each other through spoken language.
But Clubhouse goes further and focuses on this feature: Discussion groups that are current and can start spontaneously can disappear here immediately when everything has been said.
This mix of wanting to be there, innovation and perhaps also the need to hear other people's voices in times of isolation and to be able to participate in conversations probably explains the current success of the app.
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Faith, Sports, Arts: Categories that users can choose from
Photo: Clubhouse
What data does the app want?
If you want to use Clubhouse, you have to give the app access to the address book of your iPhone.
Interested parties should carefully consider whether access to the app is worth this delicate data release, which also affects other, uninvolved contacts.
New users can only be added if their mobile phone number is given.
The fact that Clubhouse apparently does not attach much importance to data protection is also shown by the fact that the app does not even offer users an option built directly into the platform to have their own data deleted.
If you want to get rid of your account, you have to write an email.
The conversations in a room are also recorded - according to the developers, in order to be able to trace possible violations of the Terms of Service.
Basically, users are encouraged to use Clubhouse with real names and to link their existing social media profiles with the app.
Who is behind the app?
The app is provided by the US company Alpha Exploration.
The two founders and managing directors are Paul Davison and Rohan Seth.
According to an article by Forbes, Clubhouse has so far been financed by investors.
The company is valued at over $ 100 million.
Only the coming months will show whether Clubhouse will be able to stay high in the app charts in the long term.
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