Clubhouse is adding another way for users to engage in conversation in each room by adding a new text chat option that’ll run complementary to each session’s main audio discussion. While we’ve not heard from Clubhouse in a fair amount of time, it’s good to know that they’re still focusing on the platform’s key element and engagement driver. This update hopefully brings Clubhouse a step closer to achieving a more contextual audio social space.
Chatterbox
User Michael Sterling posted an example of Clubhouse’s new chat option. From the looks of things, it’s rather straightforward, allowing all listeners to contribute, expanding the input potential beyond just those who would be speaking. Clubhouse added a more private chat option back in July, whereas this new addition caters more towards open discussion.
Clubhouse explains:
“Today we’re introducing in-room chat which will allow users – from the mods to the listeners in the audience – to communicate with each other via text during a live room. Don’t want to miss your moment to share a killer joke? Want to put in a song request? Want to react with an emoji? You can now drop it in the in-room chat.”
The idea here will help get more people involved in conversations, particularly those who might like to contribute but are too apprehensive to open their mics. While getting more people involved can spell wonders for community-building, introducing a free-for-all forum can also be a tad problematic, as other live-stream platforms have found in the past.
True enough, within the first few hours of going live, the new functions were already reporting potential issues regarding spam and offensive comments. This makes it doubly important for room hosts to have full control over the option, which Clubhouse has fortunately built-in, along with other safety features. Perhaps the main point here is that creators decide whether or not text chat is enabled within their room/s. Rooms that have it enabled can also disable it at any time. Hosts can also delete messages posted by anyone during the session and when the room ends. Contributors are also able to edit or delete their comments in-stream, while also being able to report harmful or offensive comments by long-pressing the message and tapping ‘Report’.
A new chat icon will appear at the bottom left corner of the screen, next to the ‘Share’ and ‘Clip’ icons in sessions where text chat is enabled. Though not a major leap forward, given that such functionality was already present in other platforms even before, it still adds to Clubhouse’s overall engagement process.
The Wrap
Clubhouse may not be as hip as it was before release, but it continues to see growth, especially in India. Clubhouse is still trying to better contextualize its audio social offer along with introducing improvements that would make discovery and quality-control achieve peak levels. While being terribly niche in terms of reach and application, there’s a significant opportunity for Clubhouse to establish itself as a new, worthy player.
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