There’s a new social app making its way up the most popular app list on iOS. Some people are calling it the anti-Facebook — a social media community that doesn’t let you share media at all. We’re talking about Clubhouse, an app that’s currently only available by invitation, but that may soon be open to everyone.
If your kids have already signed up for Clubhouse (and they probably shouldn’t, since you have to be 18) there are lots of things you should know about. In this review of the Clubhouse app, we’ll dig deep to help you understand the new experience that’s taking the world by storm.
Table Of Contents
What Is Clubhouse App Used For?
Like all social media apps, Clubhouse is all about making connections and having conversations. Clubhouse bills itself as the place to have casual chats that you can casually drop into. These chats are audio-only. That means there’s no texting and there’s no video.
Clubhouse is an invite-only app right now. But once you receive an invitation, you’ll have full access to the innovative social media experience.
With your Clubhouse account, you’ll have access to all kinds of different rooms. Each room has a specific topic. If the room is open, you can enter it and start chatting. Some rooms are private and others are open only to people on your follower’s list.
You can also just sit back and listen. Some have described Clubhouse as being able to listen in on other people’s phone calls, but completely legal.
Why Everyone Wants Access to Clubhouse
Clubhouse is a unique experience. But just because something’s unique, it doesn’t mean it’s going to be popular.
So what’s fueling Clubhouse mania? First, people want what they can’t have. Because you need the invitation to join Clubhouse, people think Clubhouse is exclusive. Being offered the chance to join something exclusive makes people feel special.
But that’s not all. Celebrities are also fueling the fire, tweeting about Clubhouse, and getting the world excited. Who wouldn’t want to use an exclusive app that their favorite celebrity uses too?
The Clubhouse Audio App Dangers You Should Know About
There Are Moderators in Each Room — But Beware
Every room has a moderator. When you start a room, you’re the moderator. You can add, mute, and remove other speakers from the room. And your main goal is to guide the conversation. But you also have the power to add other moderators.
And if you add a moderator to the room, they have the power to add additional moderators that you might not know.
There Are Different Types of Rooms
Not all rooms are created equal. There are open rooms, which anyone can join. There are social rooms, which only allow people you follow into the room. And there are closed rooms (also called private rooms) that are only open to people you manually add to the room.
Because anyone can stumble into an open room, kids using the app could very well find themselves in a room that’s highly inappropriate for their age group.
Beware of Trolls and Cyberbullies
You can think of a Clubhouse as a place where people feel safe to chat. But unlike a real clubhouse in the real world where you can physically shut the door, it’s possible for anyone with a Clubhouse account to pop in and listen in on what’s happening.
That makes the Clubhouse social app a great target for trolls. Imagine being in a Clubhouse voice chat with people who speak a common language, only to have someone pop in and make fun of your culture, language, accent, or anything else. It could happen on Clubhouse.
As if cyberbullying wasn’t already a problem on Facebook and other social media apps, now it’s making the leap from text and comments to real audio conversations. Not cool.
There Are No Reports of Predators, but That Could Soon Change
The Clubhouse voice app is invite-only at the moment. That means you need to receive a Clubhouse app invite from someone to use the app (you can’t just randomly join). The invite-only nature of the app means that Clubhouse might not be littered with predators at the moment. And while that’s welcome news, the future could be very, very different.
Once Clubhouse enters the public phase, in which anyone can sign up for an account much like Facebook, TikTok, and Snapchat, it could very well become a predator’s dream app.
Things Can Get Pretty Explicit
We know what you’re thinking. No photos? No videos? Then no problem. You don’t have to worry about pornography in the Clubhouse audio app, right? Wrong. Clubhouse is all about having conversations and chatting about specific topics.
And in some rooms, things can get pretty explicit. Definitely, something for parents to keep in mind before letting kids just jump in.
Clubhouse Records Every Room Chat
If you’re like most parents, you know that your kids have a million different apps on their phone. And if your kids are like most of their peers (and most adults for that matter), they most likely didn’t read the privacy policy when signing up for a Clubhouse app account.
But it’s not all doom and gloom. While Clubhouse informs its users that they record all conversations, it also notes that the audio is deleted when the room ends if no incident was reported. If an incident was reported, Clubhouse keeps the audio until an investigation into the incident is complete. Here’s what the website says:
Solely for the purpose of supporting incident investigations, we temporarily record the audio in a room while the room is live. If a user reports a Trust and Safety violation while the room is active, we retain the audio for the purposes of investigating the incident, and then delete it when the investigation is complete. If no incident is reported in a room, we delete the temporary audio recording when the room ends. Audio from (i) muted speakers and (ii) audience members are never captured, and all temporary audio recordings are encrypted.
Clubhouse Questions Every Parent Is Asking
We get it. Clubhouse is new and you want to know about it before your kids dive in. So we’re answering your most pressing concerns right now.
What is Clubhouse used for?
Clubhouse is used for having engaging audio-only conversations with like-minded people.
Is the Clubhouse app only for iPhone?
Right now, yes. But that could soon change as the popularity of Clubhouse grows.
Is Clubhouse a dating app?
Not specifically. But Facebook isn’t a dating app and people hook up on there all the time.
How do I join the Clubhouse app?
You’ll need an invitation from another Clubhouse user. If your kids know Clubhouse users, they might have already received one.
How do you add people to your Clubhouse?
Clubhouse doles out invites to its users based on how much a user contributes to the community. So if you’re engaged and if you host conversations, you’ll probably receive more invites.
Use mSpy to Keep Your Kids Safe on Social Media
It’s always important to be aware of what your kids are doing online. That’s where mSpy comes in.
mSpy doesn’t yet include features to capture Clubhouse conversations, so it’s not designed to be a track Clubhouse app. But if your kids are meeting people on the Clubhouse app and bringing them into their social circle, mSpy is the parental monitoring software you need.
It lets you see their social media chats, whereabouts, texts, phone calls, search history, and so much more. And it works on iOS and Android, so you’ll be able to keep them safe wherever they go online.
