What is Clubhouse & who is the woman on the app's icon?
Clubhouse, an audio-based social networking app, which recently crossed 1 million downloads on the Android Play Store, has grasped the attention of people all over the world, thanks to the support from industry stalwarts like Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg, and Tesla's Elon Musk. The invite-only social audio app, launched exclusively for iPhones in March 2020, has added newer features and additions and is reportedly working on introducing a payments feature on its Android app as well. Let's revisit what is Clubhouse app about. Clubhouse is a voice-based social media app which was initially available only for iPhone users, but has now been rolled out on Android as well. Clubhouse is like an audio server that can extend up to 5,000 users. Once a user manages to get in, he/she can join 'Rooms' where one can find several discussions going on around various topics and choose to drop in and out of different chats basis one's areas of interest. It is an invite-only app where a current Clubhouse user can send you an invite. The app can be downloaded from the Apple and Google Play Store, where one can reserve a username and wait to get in. The company describes itself as a "new type of social project based on voice where people everywhere talk, tell stories, develop ideas, deepen friendships and meet interesting new people." Once a user gets entry into the platform, he/she can follow people or clubs or specific topics. There are several virtual chat rooms where one can join and follow friends or people who are speaking in there. Thus, when one enters a room, the phone's audio is turned on. The creators of the audio chat room are the final authority. Users have the choice to put their hands up when they want to join a discussion but it's the room creators who decide who they will allow to speak and at what intervals. Renowned Asian American artist and activist Drue Kataoka is the face on the logo of the app. She is the first visual artist and Asian American to be featured on the app, and eighth person ever to have been chosen for this role by Clubhouse. Kataoka, who was also the app's earliest members since its launch in March 2020, has leveraged her art with great ethics to raise over $100,000 in Clubhouse rooms to #StopAsianHate and in partnership with Dr. Bernice King, CEO of The King Center to back racial justice in a (Clubhouse) event named #24HoursofLove. She has also been instrumental in persuading the company's leadership team to develop and launch a new feature that lets users contribute money to several causes from within the app itself.