How many people can be in a conversation?
The current limit is 5,000 people per Clubhouse room—which Musk busted
through, of course. Users in that room started live-streaming the conversation
on YouTube, which is a clever workaround for making a record of what’s said.
What do you really mean by a ‘conversation’? Isn’t it like a podcast?
It depends on your podcast preferences, but remember—all the people involved
are talking via their iPhones. They don’t see one another, so it really is like
listening in on a phone call. There’s no professional editing, no sound effects, no
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another could be a formal talk-show-style interview, a big group discussion,
or even a music-sharing session. When someone interesting drops into a
room—say, a billionaire—the room’s creator/moderator can put them on the
‘stage’ as a speaker.
So I can only listen in?
Not necessarily. Anyone listening in can virtually ‘raise a hand.’ Whether you
talk is up to the room’s creator/moderator.
So is this really like ‘Medium for Podcasts’?
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future conversations, it is. Unlike Medium, there’s no record of it. The
conversations are not recorded or stored for future listeners. Certainly, there’s
no way to monetize it. Yet.
Sounds more like Zoom without video.
In some ways, sure. But Clubhouse isn’t really a video chat without video, since
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important or interesting to say. Also, not having to look at the screen while
you’re talking is a nice change from today’s daily video calls.
What are the downsides?
Clubhouse has had some issues already with hate speech and abuse, so it had to
institute community moderation guidelines in October. It made a common
mistake—believing it could trust users to not be jerks. There are always jerks.