Conall Lynch
With Coronavirus being about a year old I thought I would take this time to look at how the media has changed but, more specifically, how the media has changed us. Originally I was going to write about the change in late-night (you know, the diverse programming with such stars as James Corden, Jimmy Kimmel, and Jimmy Fallon) but that premise has been beaten to the ground by almost every “reaction” channel on youtube. So, I thought I’d talk about something I saw in the news that might be a huge issue.
Clubhouse
Clubhouse is an audio centered social media app that allows users to enter chat rooms to talk about… anything. It’s basically Omegal or Chatroulette, but you can’t see anyones face. Instead, you make an avatar and start talking to anyone that might be online. Both Elon Musk and Vanilla Ice have expressed their interest in the app but here’s the thing, people are mean. People are getting harassed and being fed misinformation. A couple of hundred people spreading antivacination theories and others harassing a deaf person nonstop on the app. With all this bad shit you’d think I’d be mad about this… but I’m not. Heres why…
The app is invite-only. This means that you can only join the app if you are invited. That’s dumb. How can an app that is advertised as a place for real people to speak only be available to a select few? Thats like when you were a kid and had to ask your mom before taking a free sample at the grocery store. I am not surprised that an app centered around talking to people and INVITE ONLY is filled with mean people.
The best part about this situation is that Clubhouse’s “invite-only” characteristic is actually hurting them due to similar apps that are completely free. Take a look at Stereo. Stereo is another audio scented app where, again, you get to talk to random people online with an avatar, and it works great. I have been using Stereo for about a month now and haven’t had a bad experience with it. From deep philosophical conversations to talking to a person in a stupid voice for over 2 hours, I have enjoyed Stereo so much. The best part about stereo is that it’s completely free… this sounds like an ad but it’s not… I swear.
People are lashing out against Clubhouse and I want to join it so if anyone out there can invite me I would love to compare the differences between the elitist invite-only to the completely free and come to a conclusion for another blog.
