Clubhouse has always had certain challenges when it came to providing context for its many in-app discussions. Aware of this apparent gap, it wishes to somehow close the distance, if even by the slightest margins, which it might just be able to do with its latest update. Clubhouse is adding a new ‘Pinned Links’ feature, allowing users to “PIN” URLs to the top of the room display.
From the example on their official blog, moderators will now be able to add external links within the room presentation. To do this, simply tap the three dots menu icon on the top right side of the screen, then tap on the ‘Pink A Link’ option. MOderators can freely change or remove links anytime throughout the session.
This, as explained by Clubhouse, is believed to open up new engagement opportunities:
“We suspect that people will use Pinned Links in all sorts of fun ways — like playing games, running polls, and sharing links to YouTube videos. Just as importantly, we’re excited to see Pinned Links help room creators drive people to subscribe to their Substack, download their podcast, read their book, go see them at The Laugh Factory, discover their new single, buy their product, and support their Patreon or GoFundMe page..”
The way clubhouse sees it is that the ability to add links is an opportunity for creators to drive direct benefit from their rooms, alternatively providing them with more incentive to continue broadcasting and building a community within the app. If you look at it in this way, in how GIFs make regular text conversations that much more enjoyable. Links can make broadcasts that much more interactive and enriching, especially if they lead to additional material or resources.
It’s a rather direct and logical addition, which is honestly something that Clubhouse might benefit better from doing more given how “broad” its chosen content-delivery approach is. Twitter has already done something similar to its Spaces in the form of Pinned Tweets.
As of the moment, while Clubhouse is still getting its bearings, Twitter stands as the dominant audio-social platform. With it’s dedicated Spaces tab and the backing of a new creator funding program for audio broadcasters, Twitter is on its way to making Spaces a bigger part of the Tweet experience which, in turn, looks to make Twitter more of a relevant player in terms of higher-context connection.
Clubhouse does have its own creator funding initiative, but falls a tad bit short compared to Twitter’s broader reach. On the plus side, Clubhouse has seen good take-up in India lately, which stands to now be a key market of growth for the platform.
The Wrap
Will there be a future for Clubhouse? Likely so. Though the platform was not able to achieve ideal traction levels as planned, it’s getting there slowly. Despite stumbles along the way, the app’s relative youth allows it to effectively learn and come up with good moves after each roadblock. Besides, having handy features, such as ‘Clips’, and financial backing ensures, at the very least, a spot for it in the future of virtual connection.
If Clubhouse ever expands to Android, then perhaps we’ll see even more development since integrating onto a new operating system will generate new insights and trends and potentially reveal opportunities that were previously not applicable.
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