Back on Clubhouse? #myclubhouse
After completely maxing out on everyone selling themselves on Clubhouse (@joinclubhouse), I took a break for a few months.
Is it safe to get back on? Is it worth it?
By December, every time I got on the app and tried to engage with people, it felt like work. It stopped being fun. It was no longer a helpful resource. For me.
The effort was no longer worth the reward.
Plus, due to some things happening in my own life, I needed to focus on what was going on in my own world.
I didn’t have the extra bandwidth or energy to focus on random strangers and the bullshit that came with it on a social app struggling to find itself.
Clubhouse worked for me when it was a social platform where I could meet interesting people and build authentic connections.
It was what I needed at the time. I met people virtually since I couldn’t be out in the world where I could meet people in person. As a connector, I NEED to meet people and learn from them.
But now Clubhouse is a media company with ‘live podcasts’ and fewer opportunities to connect on a human level.
I also prefer to consume content that is better moderated, edited, and at a time that is convenient for me. That’s not Clubhouse right now.
So what’s next?
I don’t know but today it felt great to be back on the app. I was joined by some of the Virtual Co-Working OGs and we were able to talk about our lives and current events at the top of the hour check ins as I got shit done in between (including this blog post).
I was reminded of why I liked Clubhouse last fall and why my family and friends got sick and tired of hearing about it.
Who’s to say I can’t use Clubhouse as I want to and create #myclubhouse?
I don’t have to get caught up in the promo frenzy. I can resist the FOMO and keep it social regardless of what my kids think.
Who will stop me?
More importantly, who will join me?
Terri Hanson Mead
Terri Hanson Mead is a Silicon Valley based IT consultant, expert witness, angel investor, feminist, commercially rated helicopter pilot, and the author of Piloting Your Life, a book she wrote to inspire women over the age of 40 to design and live a life of their own creation thereby being the pilots in their own lives.
Follow Terri on IG, TikTok, Twitter, and YouTube.
Background: Virtual Co-Working, Women and Power, Midlife Madness
Back in August I created the Virtual Co-Working Procrastinators Club (inspired by my CH besties Lara and Liza) and opened a virtual co-working room nearly every day until mid-December. Yes, nearly every day.
This was quite a commitment that was never really appreciated by the Clubhouse founders.
Or some of the CH members who benefitted from the room.
The virtual co-working room was great for my productivity (and for others!) and helped to save me during the Covid lockdowns as I talked about in this video back in November 2020.
But then we started getting trolls in the virtual co-working room and we had to limit access to members only. (We = Lara, Ndali and I; the only admins for months)
Managing members is a nightmare on CH, by the way. I have to add each Follower manually to the club. Right now there are 2K members and 2.4K followers. I guess I know what I am doing tonight.
In December I decided it was time to share the burden and expanded the number of admins to eight (Imene in Paris, Lara/Ndali/Aisha/Bobby on the East Coast, Sheila, Tobi and I on the West Coast).
We’ve discussed adding more admins but once we give admin access to others, we risk getting kicked out of our own club which is a risk I am unwilling to take.
I have two other clubs that I created back in September when it was actually difficult to create them. Now, anyone can create a club at any time. I see the value in this but it makes for a very cluttered experience.
I’ve experimented unsuccessfully with a few clubs and formats.
Before I created Women and Power, I had a self-promotion club where we got together each week to work on self-promotion activities. Initially there was interest and then there wasn’t so I changed the club and started hosting weekly interviews with amazing women.
But that didn’t really work either. I got frustrated and stopped hosting them.
The Women and Power club now has 1K members and 5K followers and I get requests to join on a daily basis. Mind you I haven’t hosted an event since December.
The idea of trying to work through the noise on the platform is overwheming. I just won’t play the game.
My third club is Midlife Madness and I’ve yet to host an event or open a room for this club. I know there’s interest for this type of content but I just can’t summon the energy to get something started.
As I continue to work through my broader social media, content, and influencer strategy, I may do more with these clubs. Until then, I’ll keep the experience to something that works for me…#myclubhouse.
Terri Hanson Mead
Terri Hanson Mead is a Silicon Valley based IT consultant, expert witness, angel investor, feminist, commercially rated helicopter pilot, and the author of Piloting Your Life, a book she wrote to inspire women over the age of 40 to design and live a life of their own creation thereby being the pilots in their own lives.
