What is Clubhouse and how does it work?

Clubhouse is a new form of social network released in 2020 based on a simple pitch: facilitate the conversation between users through voice chats and messages. But what does Clubhouse look like, and how is it used? In this article, we explain everything you need to know about it.

How does Clubhouse work?

Clubhouse is based on the idea of conversating live and orally (chatting in the true sense of the word) with friends or acquaintances. Clubhouse is a sort of a "big social radio" where anyone can discuss with everyone on any subject. And there is a reason for the hype surrounding the app: this new form of social network silences the thumping 'tap-tap-tap' sound of the keyboard and liberates all the emotions behind the human voice, thus bringing users closer together. "Our goal was to build a social experience that felt more human", say its founders Paul and Rohan on the official blog.

How to create rooms with Clubhouse?

On this platform, you can follow members, topics, or clubs. Clubhouse is organized in rooms that every member can create. They differ in size and subjects. In order to speak, you have to raise your hand, and then the chat owner can approve your request. There are different types of rooms:

• Open: or open to anyone interested in the subject. You have to ask a moderator for permission to speak. The moderator can decide which and how many participants can be in the group.
• Social: visible to connected users or to users you already follow.
• Closed and private: those rooms are visible only to those who have been invited to it.

There are no limits to in-room conversations and each user can decide when and whether to leave the room and re-enter it, thanks to the Leave quietly function.

Why is it invitation-only registration?

Clubhouse is mainly used by public personalities with large communities of followers, for example, Marco Montemagno. We have also written an in-depth article on how to get a Clubhouse invite.

It should be noted that every Clubhouse account is created using one's real identity (name and surname) and telephone number, not the email address. And there is also the possibility of associating your Instagram or Twitter account to your Clubhouse account.

"We're working hard to scale Clubhouse as fast as we can and open it up to everyone soon" assure the creators and we look forward to getting to know Clubhouse better in the near future.

What is the Clubhouse privacy policy?

In general, the Clubhouse privacy policy does not differ from the terms of use of other popular social networks. In order to get a social network account, a user must share their basic information (first name, last name, phone number, email, profile photo), and give permission to access their contacts. This means that Clubhouse can then keep track of which of your contacts are not yet using the app.

The main difference with Clubhouse, however, is that communication takes place here in group voice chats. Users are not allowed to record them (recording conversations results in blocking the account). At the same time, everything that is said in the application is not only heard by the interlocutors but also recorded and analyzed by the service itself. There is no 100% guarantee that these recordings will not end up in the public domain as a result of some sort of leak (as has happened with other services).

In an interview with Gadget, Kaspersky Lab security expert Alexey firsh said: "As a whole, Clubhouse's Privacy Policy is relatively standard, but when you share something on such social networks, it's very important to always remember that you actually can't be 100% sure what will happen with your shared data, so you have to be prepared for the fact that one day it may leak to the general public — someone may simply record it."