Clubhouse vs Legacy Media

Clubhouse is the new voice only social media network that’s only existed for a year, but is already valued at over $1bn, and has rivals scrambling to create competitors.

The audio only social network has been described as a continual podcast that you drop in on, and can take part in. After access was tightly controlled over the last year, it’s now in its explosive growth phase and breaking through to mainstream awareness, with a flurry of articles in the media, some obligatory moral panic over ‘gatekeeping’, and a whole load of hype.

Is the hype justified? What are the downsides and likely failure conditions of this new media environment, and what light does the success of Clubhouse shed on some of the most consequential divisions in culture right now.

It’s a fascinating story, or set of stories with major consequences for all of us, including but not limited to a titanic battle between new tech and old media, the nature of ‘cancel culture’ dynamics on the app, and the potential for new forms of dialogue and sensemaking to develop.

As Rebel Wisdom has covered at length, and Tristan Harris raised the alarm more widely with The Social Dilemma, there is a growing awareness of the dangers of social media, and particularly how the…