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I enjoyed the Clubhouse for a week. There were very dense and valuable conversations in certain segments. However, it quickly became the case for changing the

I enjoyed the Clubhouse for a week. There were very dense and valuable conversations in certain segments. However, it quickly became the case for changing the saying “marketers ruin everything” to “marketers ruin everything really really fast”

mathattack 5y ago
Scams and self promotion too. :-) The speed of people adding and then ignoring outpaced Google Plus.
prox 5y ago
So what exactly brings this turn about? Is it the notion of content becoming an advertisement?
- pram 5y ago
  Lack of authenticity. Being marketed at has a distinct feeling of bad-faith cynicism. You aren’t interacting with another human, just a biological advertisement.
libertine 5y ago
What did "marketers" do to actually ruin everything? Why can't people just accept the fact that it was just hyped up by some people with a lot of media exposure at the right time: namely when Robinhood VS /r/wallstreetbets was kicking in and people got access to a bit of backstage/roasting, and everyone wanted to be part of it with the whole exclusive invites deal. People felt like they were special because they had privileged access to something for a few days. They were among "few" celebrities. At the moment 2 of my old bosses - not tech savvy and usually out of the loop on a lot of matters - sent a message to a group chat saying they have Clubhouse invites for the people in the group, I knew it was over. Wasn't long before the whole Clubhouse hype died off. Somehow... it was marketers who ruined it? You simply can't have something exclusive if everyone has access to it. It's not like those celebrities are spilling secrets there, they knew what they were doing there. You were not a fly at a special dinner table listening to exclusive gossip (i'm not saying you, you, but you the user who had that motivation, which I think was the vast majority).
- dcow 5y ago
  One might argue this was their “viral” marketing strategy and hence may deserve some blame for ruining things. Large VC shops are basically marketing engines for their portfolio companies.
  - libertine 5y ago
    But wasn't that the end game of the app? Or that app should have remained exclusive to some users? What users? Who would be the judge of that? Just multi millionaires? Just founders? Or tech people? I don't even know what "tech people" means. Even so, if it was supposed to be like that: what would be the appeal for those users if they didn't had access large audiences listening to them? If they want exclusive talks they can just pickup the phone and get any number. Elon wouldn't be roasting Vlad if he didn't get a large audience listening. People were joining because they wanted to be one of the few that had access to Clubhouse, even if they didn't listen to a single talk. That's not marketing, that's just the status quo. Clubhouse, crypto, pokemon cards, Supreme, a ride on a rocket to space, you name it. If they wanted exclusivity for rich people they could have charged 5k USD/year subscription, that would thin it out.
    - dcow 5y ago
      I’ve heard it called viral marketing before. I don't disagree with your points. Probably just a semantic difference.
      - libertine 5y ago
        Ah but you're right, it is viral marketing.
throwawayswede 5y ago
My sentiment exactly. It felt like there is something interesting that could be done with a piece of software like that on mobile (I used it mostly while out on runs or walking). I remember thinking that there will surely be a fedirated/self-hosted version spun up in no time and then we'll see if the idea really takes off.
rospaya 5y ago
Sounds like Linkedin.
- thejackgoode 5y ago
  Incidentally, I left LinkedIn this year as well

mathattack 5y ago

Scams and self promotion too. :-) The speed of people adding and then ignoring outpaced Google Plus.

prox 5y ago

So what exactly brings this turn about? Is it the notion of content becoming an advertisement?

pram 5y ago
Lack of authenticity. Being marketed at has a distinct feeling of bad-faith cynicism. You aren’t interacting with another human, just a biological advertisement.

libertine 5y ago

What did "marketers" do to actually ruin everything? Why can't people just accept the fact that it was just hyped up by some people with a lot of media exposure at the right time: namely when Robinhood VS /r/wallstreetbets was kicking in and people got access to a bit of backstage/roasting, and everyone wanted to be part of it with the whole exclusive invites deal. People felt like they were special because they had privileged access to something for a few days. They were among "few" celebrities. At the moment 2 of my old bosses - not tech savvy and usually out of the loop on a lot of matters - sent a message to a group chat saying they have Clubhouse invites for the people in the group, I knew it was over. Wasn't long before the whole Clubhouse hype died off. Somehow... it was marketers who ruined it? You simply can't have something exclusive if everyone has access to it. It's not like those celebrities are spilling secrets there, they knew what they were doing there. You were not a fly at a special dinner table listening to exclusive gossip (i'm not saying you, you, but you the user who had that motivation, which I think was the vast majority).

dcow 5y ago
One might argue this was their “viral” marketing strategy and hence may deserve some blame for ruining things. Large VC shops are basically marketing engines for their portfolio companies.
- libertine 5y ago
  But wasn't that the end game of the app? Or that app should have remained exclusive to some users? What users? Who would be the judge of that? Just multi millionaires? Just founders? Or tech people? I don't even know what "tech people" means. Even so, if it was supposed to be like that: what would be the appeal for those users if they didn't had access large audiences listening to them? If they want exclusive talks they can just pickup the phone and get any number. Elon wouldn't be roasting Vlad if he didn't get a large audience listening. People were joining because they wanted to be one of the few that had access to Clubhouse, even if they didn't listen to a single talk. That's not marketing, that's just the status quo. Clubhouse, crypto, pokemon cards, Supreme, a ride on a rocket to space, you name it. If they wanted exclusivity for rich people they could have charged 5k USD/year subscription, that would thin it out.
  - dcow 5y ago
    I’ve heard it called viral marketing before. I don't disagree with your points. Probably just a semantic difference.
    - libertine 5y ago
      Ah but you're right, it is viral marketing.

throwawayswede 5y ago

My sentiment exactly. It felt like there is something interesting that could be done with a piece of software like that on mobile (I used it mostly while out on runs or walking). I remember thinking that there will surely be a fedirated/self-hosted version spun up in no time and then we'll see if the idea really takes off.

rospaya 5y ago

Sounds like Linkedin.

thejackgoode 5y ago
Incidentally, I left LinkedIn this year as well