What is Clubhouse, the exclusive social media app creating waves on internet

A new social media app is making big waves on the internet these days. The newcomer Clubhouse app is less than a year old but is already valued at around $1 billion.

The social platform is the latest in a long list of apps that have created a buzz after users have been discarding WhatsApp over privacy concerns and switching to other safer apps.

The much-talked-about app is so popular that Tesla CEO Elon Musk also dropped in to check it out. The application has been developed by Paul Davidson and Rohan Seth. According to data analytics firm Sensor Tower, Clubhouse, as of Tuesday, January 2, had around 3.6 million installs worldwide.

Clubhouse distinguishes itself from other platforms as being an 'audio-messaging app'. But what is it exactly, how does one join the platform, and what does one do there? Here are the details.

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What is Clubhouse?

Clubhouse is a voice-based social media app available only for iPhone users, however, an Android version is coming soon. It is a platform where users share audio clips, instead of text posts or pictures.

The application presently has around two million users. Once a user manages to get in, he/she can join 'Rooms' where one can find several discussions going on around various topics and choose to drop in and out of different chats basis one's areas of interest.

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How to gain access to Clubhouse?

It is an invite-only app where a current Clubhouse user can send you an invite. However, each user can only send two invites.

The app, which is only available for iPhone users, can be downloaded from the Apple store, where one can reserve a username and wait to get in.

The company describes itself as a "new type of social project based on voice where people everywhere talk, tell stories, develop ideas, deepen friendships and meet interesting new people."

What happens in Clubhouse?

Once a user gets entry into the platform, he/she can follow people or clubs or specific topics. There are several virtual chat rooms where one can join and follow friends or people who are speaking in there.

Thus, when one enters a room, the phone's audio is turned on. The creators of the audio chat room are the final authority.

Users have the choice to put their hands up when they want to join a discussion but it's the room creators who decide who they will allow to speak and at what intervals.

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