Audio Chatrooms like Clubhouse Have Become the Hot New Media by Tapping into the Age-Old Appeal of the Human Voice

Abstract

Google “What is Clubhouse?” and you’ll find a flurry of articles written in the past few weeks about this fast-growing social network. It’s not yet a year old, and much of the buzz stems from the fact that Clubhouse is invite-only, bringing with it an element of exclusivity.

Clubhouse’s key attribute is its medium: audio, which sets it apart from established social media and messaging services like Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, WhatsApp and YouTube that use text, photos, video or a mix. Clubhouse combines the structure of old-school text chatrooms with the immediacy and emotion of the human voice.

The social media service is tapping into the creativity, intimacy and authenticity that audio can deliver, a trend that lies at the heart of the current golden age of podcasting.

Keywords: audio, audio storytelling, digital, digital media, digital storytelling, storytelling, podcasting, media, tech, technology, social media, innovation, social audio