Innovation is what Clubhouse needs urgently to survive
3 reasons why Clubhouse failed to satisfy users, who have been on social media platforms for more than 10 years.
In April this year, I talked to a bunch of friends and colleagues about the tipping point and the future of the newly emerged voice-only app. I predicted that soon (not giving an exact time) the public interest for Clubhouse will slow down significantly. I predicted that at some point people will figure out that the other apps, such as Instagram, do a better job.
The app popularity sparked when celebrities and tech moguls either joined or tweeted about it. People like Elon Musk, Mark Zuckeberg, and Jared Leto. The word-of-mouth and chain of invitations either out of curiosity or accept-by-respect created a communal force to grow the network of the app since Februrary 2021.
However, the downward trend of google search and app downloads suggest that although creativity in the tech world plays a key role for an emerging company to grow, but other factors including sustainable (and sometimes quick) response to users expectations are also determining to retain the joined users.
Here’s the Google search volume of the app from January 2020 to June 2021:
Here’s the number of monthly downloads of Clubhouse by regions:
I explained my logic behind the downfall of the app download in America as well as Europe, Africa, and Middle East in three reasons:
Far Different User Experience
Since the emergence of Facebook in 2004, YouTube in 2005, and Twitter in 2006, the social media platforms have formed the behaviour of users for interactions on the cyberspace. If you are a viewer or data user you reflect through liking, commenting, or sharing. And if you are a content generator you automatically seek for reviews and feedback for further contents after your publish.
What we’ve been accustomed to for more than 10 years, doesn’t happen in Clubhouse. You listen but you don’t have a chance to reflect or hear the reflections. Voices would be forgotten and not recorded anywhere (if posted on other platforms, such as YouTube) to be later referred to or reviewed by new users, who didn’t have a chance to participate in the room.
No Engaging User Interface
An engaging user interface can retain usual users by 200%. If someone joins Clubhouse without any specific reason, such as hearing the live voice of a favourite author or a politician, then why bother staying here when there are far better options out there with pictures, motions, and sound?
For example, if an actor wishes to talk to fans face to face, both Instagram and YouTube are able to provide a live session, where engagement reaches to the fullest.
Change of Lifestyle in Post-Pandemic
I also mentioned that once we approach the post-pandemic time when more public places are open, people would spend more time outside the house where browsing rooms, active listening, talking, questioning, and responding may sound less possible than home-staying.
In the future, the use of Clubhouse would be limited to those scheduled group chatting that people are normally invited beforehand.
Conclusion
The future of Clubhouse depends on further innovations and improving user engagement tools as early as possible. Although using voice for live communication sounded fun for four consecutive months, now it could be a limiting factor for the app to maintain its popularity among users in such a competitive environment.
It can become even harder for Clubhouse when tech giants, such as Facebook, launch a similar platform to strengthen their position in the market. At this point, what best could happen to Clubhouse is to be acquired by another company.
