Pic: PCMag
Recently launched Clubhouse, a social audio platform became immensely popular with millions of downloads within a year. The popularity of Clubhouse has immediately caught the attention of the competitors and sources have revealed that other popular platforms like Reddit, Spotify, Discord, LinkedIn, Telegram and Slack are working to build similar competing products. However, Facebook is the first to make the move by introducing Live Audio Rooms. According to a Bloomberg report, last month Facebook tested the Lie Audio room in Taiwan. Another source further reported that Mark Zuckerberg had a discussion with three Facebook gaming creatures in the live audio session about new gaming features. It is not surprising that many features of Live Audio Rooms by Facebook are similar to Clubhouse.
The similarity between Clubhouse and Live Audio Rooms
Similar to Clubhouse, the Live Audio Rooms features a speakers stage. This stage is followed by a section that shows other members of the platform who are followed by the speakers and finally, there is a section that shows all the remaining participants who are listening to the conversation. Clubhouses too follow the same pattern. The listeners also get a feature that allows them to like the stream and further invite other listeners by sharing the link of the audio room. The Live Audio Rooms supports 50 speakers and unlimited listeners. In a bold statement, the company has made it clear that they are trying to attract content creators and partner with them in the live audio rooms.
Mark Zuckerberg has previously used Clubhouse
In February, Mark Zuckerberg used Clubhouse with the username Zuck23 and it made some new. He participated in a talk show of Clubhouse named “The Good Time Show”. Previously, Elon Musk, Tesla CEO also made an appearance in the same show. In the interview, Zuckerberg discussed the futuristic aspect of Facebook’s Reality Labs group and made it vocal that he firmly believes that the future of human-computer interaction lies in augmented and virtual reality. It now seems that Mark Zuckerberg had other motives too. He not only prepared in the interview but also tested the features of Clubhouse first-hand and have now incorporated them in Live Audio Rooms.
Spotify has rolled out Greenroom
Following the footsteps of Mark Zuckerberg, even Spotify has rolled out its audio-only app and has named it Greenroom. Previously in 2020, it launched Locker Room which was solely for sports-centric discussion but the new Greenroom will provide the users with a space to carry out all sorts of discussions. The basic premise of Greenroom is again very similar to Clubhouse where the participants can carry out live conversations in audio rooms. Each room will comprise of host, speakers and listeners. The major difference between Clubhouse and Greenroom is that Greenroom permits the users to record the conversation which is taking place in the room. Further, it allows the users to send gems to show that they have liked their content.
Twitter has launched Twitter Spaces
Twitter has also joined the race of audio-only apps by introducing Twitter space. Unlike Clubhouse, Twitter Spaces is available on a large number of platforms including desktop and mobile web browsers. Further, it can be accessed through the Twitter app for both iOS and Android.
Race amongst the users to gain more followers
On all the social media platforms, there is always a race amongst the participants to gain more followers and these newly launched audio-only apps are no different. A sure shot way to gain more followers instantly is by moderating the rooms which bring the users to a shiny spot for gaining immediate attention. Further, one needs to have much more than cool photos as their display picture in these apps. Promoting social media profiles along with connecting with other content creators can help to gain more followers too.
How popular is Clubhouse in India?
In June 2021, 80% of the download from the Clubhouse came from India making it an immensely popular app in India. This is not surprising as Clubhouse entered the Indian market when it was in lockdown mode and people were desperate to connect with each other. Clubhouse provided the Indians with a new way to connect with each other and make new friends. Even though Clubhouse does not support Hindi, it provides no linguistic barrier once people start speaking in a room. Many Indians are using the platform to talk in Hindi and flaunt their hindi status and overcoming the language barrier.
With so many audio-only apps, it will be interesting to watch which app will ensure maximum user satisfaction to gain the highest number of users.
