In January, a new social network called Clubhouse, which focuses solely on voice communication, entered the Czech Republic. It aroused huge interest from users, who discussed the application extensively on social media. Social media analysis by Newton Media shows that from January 18 to February 28, 12,187 mentions were published on this topic, the largest number of which was shared on Twitter (66%).
User contributions were evaluative from the start. “In the early days, the debates focused mainly on the exclusive nature of this network. Since the Clubhouse application is only available for the operating system iOS and by invitation, users on the networks asked for invitations or expressed their disadvantages with the Android system. The first offers for the sale of access or theories about the creation of a network in order to increase the company's profits also appeared. Apple," says Martina Maňhalová, an analyst from Newton Media.
"A number of personalities from marketing, business or the creative sphere also attracted new users to create a profile. While for some the experts' speech was beneficial, they appreciated interesting and inspiring ideas or internal information, others considered them to be one-sidedly focused "pseudo-experts" or elitists," adds Martina Maňhalová.
Quo vadis Clubhouse?
The largest increase in mentions of the application occurred at the end of January and in the first week of February. A number of institutions, companies and political entities responded to the increased interest of users by starting to organize various debates there. Their efforts to operate on the new platform were not always successful. An example is Czech Radio Plus, which organized a discussion on the topic "Will the Russian vaccine Sputnik V save Europe?" on February 3. Users protested on social networks that a public institution was organizing debates on a platform to which only a limited number of people had access. Czech Radio responded to these posts by claiming that this was an experimental event that was replacing public debates and referred to similar topics on its website.
There was also a lot of discussion on Twitter about whether it was appropriate for brands to associate themselves with the exclusion of the new social network. However, many users appreciated the innovative efforts of the entities and praised the debates. On Instagram or FacebookA number of artists and public figures also commented on Clubhouse, and the posts with the highest number of interactions were shared by Nikol Štíbrová a Mark Lost. Both admitted that the new social network does not appeal to them.
Clubhouse became a less discussed topic at the end of February and, according to many users, lost its uniqueness. “Massive user growth and a number of new, often controversial, discussion rooms have raised the question of whether content can continue to enrich its users. The new social network began to be called an "online pub" or a temporary solution for a long time in lockdown," notes Martina Maňhalová and adds: "Although this platform is intended for users over 18 years old, younger age groups have joined it, who have begun to solve issues of appearance or sexuality. However, they often appreciated that, thanks to Clubhouse, they met new friends with whom they can openly discuss various topics." Positive and negative attitudes towards the new social network are almost balanced, positive contributions were shared by 21% of users, while 19% of them were critical of it .
It remains to be seen what direction the new platform will take once the Android version is available. Even another jump in users does not have to mean a decline in interest in Clubhouse. After all, already established social networks have shown in the past that they can be attractive to their users despite the greater amount of mainstream content. What is important is how users will move within the network in the future and whether individual communities will provide them with a number of high-quality discussion rooms that will benefit them. After all, as in other social networks, the quality of the content that users consume is largely dependent on themselves.
The analysis is based on social media data from January 18, 2021 to February 18, 2021. It does not include data from social media stories. The tonality assessment was created based on a 10% sample of 12,187 posts.
