On Version History: The rise of audio social networking as the next huge trend, and the reasons it ultimately fell short.
On Version History: The rise of audio social networking as the next huge trend, and the reasons it ultimately fell short.
In 2020 and 2021, the social media landscape appeared poised for a transformation. A novel app known as TikTok surged in popularity, introducing an innovative format of vertical video to smartphones worldwide. Meanwhile, another app—lesser-known yet rapidly gaining traction and already impactful within the tech community—seemed to possess a groundbreaking social concept. This app was called Clubhouse, betting heavily on the potential of audio as the future of social interaction. It was the talk of the town, until it faded away.
In this episode of Version History, we recount the beginnings of Clubhouse, detailing how a straightforward audio group chat app evolved into a thriving platform for entertainment and creators. Platformer’s Casey Newton and Bloomberg’s Ashley Carman join David Pierce for a discussion about the app’s functionality, its appeal to tech enthusiasts, and ultimately, the ways in which its timing was simultaneously its greatest asset and biggest liability. What would the app have looked like without a global health crisis and prolonged lockdown that left people yearning for connection? We’ll never know. But it surely would have been a different story.
This episode marks the second installment of the third season of Version History. Here’s how to access each episode, along with all our other entertaining content, right when it’s released:
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And if you wish to delve deeper into the complete narrative of Clubhouse—and yes, take a moment to recall the lockdown experience—here are several links to help you begin.
