Here’s why stars are hooked to the Clubhouse app…

Sheetal

A good conversation starts with a good listener. And when it is your favourite celeb at the other end, it is meant to be extraordinary! With Clubhouse, an audio-based social networking application, users can to do just that, but with deeper and meaningful conversations on varied subjects. The promotion of your work and brand is an added bonus, without exchanging your phone number or video. We talk to some personalities from the entertainment industry, as they share their experience about the Clubhouse app and how they came across it.

Podcast, but live

The Clubhouse is an amazing application for millennials these days. Users can listen to conversations, interviews and discussions among people of varied interests. It’s like listening to a podcast, but live! It can become addictive if you devote your entire free time to this.

Shagun Sharma, actress

Audio concept

Clubhouse gives you the ability to connect with professionals outside your industry or niche. It brings one exclusive feature that other social media platforms ignore – audio. The concept is very exciting.

Abhinav Choudhary, actor

Extroverts’ heaven

I came across Clubhouse while scrolling through Instagram. The youth these days have gotten hooked to this audio-based app and so did I. It turned out to be a life savior for extroverts like me during the lockdown. The best feature is to create different clubs about a wide range of topics and converse with people.

Aradhana Sharma, actress

TED-talk vibe

Most Clubhouse rooms have a vibe similar to that of a TED talk, where one guest speaks and others listen. There are dozens of conversations happening at the same time, allowing users to switch between subjects and speakers.

Manasvi Vashist, actress

Security breaches

I have recently started using the Clubhouse app. In the virtual rooms users can communicate with each other through audio, which is a very new concept. It provides you the opportunity to meet people from different walks of life. But at the same time, there are some security breaches or leaked chats!

Akash Jagga, actor

Surviving lockdowns

Conversations on Clubhouse can range from one-on-one to group discussions or talk show-style interviews. The best part is it leverages social networking, which is important these days, especially when there is a possibility of frequent lockdowns.

Riya Bhattacharje, actress

Popular choice

From filmmaker Hansal Mehta to comedians Kenny Sebastian, Tanmay Bhat and Aishwarya Mohanraj to author-politician Shashi Tharoor to instagram influencers Dolly Singh and Kusha Kapila to actress Shruti Haasan, Indian celebs are reaping the benefits of this app. Although the app is available in English, inside the chat-room you can hold talks in any language. There are many chat-rooms where Spanish and German are spoken, while in the others one can interact in more common languages.

How to use it?

• Clubhouse is an app where users can come together to talk, listen and learn from each other in real-time.
• One can select from a plethora of topics, including debates, comedy, business and so much more. It is an interactive session, where one can listen as an audience or raise a hand and wait for the speaker to choose you as the speaker.
• While audio-chat disappears once the chatroom created with a specified topic ends, but one can record the live conversations.
• It is like having a telephonic conversation with you friends, strangers and celebs alike without sharing your contact details.

Know the app

• The app was created by Paul Davison and Rohan Seth, and was launched in March 2020 for the iOS users at first. A year later, the number of weekly active users was greater than 10 million.
• In January 2021, significant growth has been seen after celebs like Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg made appearances on the app.
• As of April 2021, venture capitalists valued Clubhouse at nearly $4 billion in a funding round, as Twitter had entered discussions to purchase Clubhouse at the same value. But the talks ended with no acquisition.
• Clubhouse has been criticised for its inherent privacy issues. Countries such as Oman, Jordan, and China and Iran have blocked access to the app or completely banned its use.
• It is an Invite-only app, which means one cannot use it unless an existing user sends you an invite.
• The app’s icon is a regularly changing black and white profile photo of a social change leader. Their eighth and current icon is Drue Kataoka.