The 6 bad things about Clubhouse
Clubhouse is a mixed bag now, but I do think there's trouble ahead.
Clubhouse is supposed to be the "next big thing."
Wait, what's Clubhouse? Clubhouse is a voice-only social network where people can start "Rooms" where they and the other speakers they choose can essentially do a live group podcast, then optionally invite listeners who click a "raise your hand" button to join the conversation as well. The app is available on iPhone only for now, and you need to be invited by an existing user to get in.
Clubhouse had been available in China, and some Chinese users were having conversations critical of the Chinese government. I said on TWiT yesterday that I'd be surprised if they weren’t banned within a week. They were banned in China today.
Yes, Clubhouse is the hot new thing. I predict its hotness and goodness won't last forever.
Here are the 6 bad things about Clubhouse.
There will be tons of competition, spreading out voice-only social networking fans all over the place. Mark Cuban today let slip that he's "involved with" a Clubhouse competitor called Fireside that's more like a podcast network that can be easily monetized. More will be announced this year.
It's not clear how Clubhouse will monetize. Either charging admission or showing or playing ads would sour the vibe of the place.
Most conversations are slow and boring. I'd say that in my experience using Clubhouse, the overwhelming majority of shows are nearly content-free, with people spewing empty platitudes or pointless drivel. It's great for people who are lonely and just want to hear voices talking. But it's a horrible waste of time for people wanting to learn something.
You don't really know who users are. Once they open for business, anyone will be able to impersonate anyone, and there's no way to tell who's who. They'll probably have a verification program, at some point. But the unverified will be able to spread disinformation easily.
Like Facebook, users with fake names that sound real are getting in, but users with real names that sound fake are not.
Clubhouse only works as a private clubhouse. Most of the users appear to be intelligent, educated professionals. That’s because it’s new and invite-only. Once they open the doors to the public, the elites will go looking for the Next Big Thing. It happened to The Well. It happened to Google+. At some point, Clubhouse will be overwhelmed by spammers, trolls, salespeople, paid influencers and grand-standers and all the smart users will flee to greener pastures.
So if you’ve got an iPhone, I would recommend trying Clubhouse. But don’t get used to it. I have the feeling that there’s trouble ahead.
