The popular drop-in audio chat app Clubhouse is launching an Android version after offering it on iOS only for over a year. Clubhouse caught on among celebrities and influencers during its invite-only phase due to its charming simplicity and other qualities. The platform is now threatened by Facebook and Twitter, whom have launched similar products.
If Clubhouse is to survive a mass migration from its platform to Twitter or Facebook, it would have to do something differently — especially considering that nearly everyone is already on those platforms. You won’t have to convince friends to sign up for Facebook or Twitter like you would with Clubhouse. However, there is something Clubhouse can do differently from Facebook and Twitter — respect user privacy.
Clubhouse could take advantage of Facebook and Twitter’s stained reputation for data privacy by switching to a business model in which no personal data is collected, and charge a small fee. There is a market for that (and a need for it too), as the growth of Signal, ProtonMail, Session, and Telegram has shown. Apple Pay and Google Pay make the process of paying almost effortless. Another way to stand out a bit is to accept Bitcoin and a few other cryptocurrencies as payment. That would help to bring privacy and cryptocurrency advocates over to the platform.
