Clubhouse is getting a lot of attention recently as the new audio chat social network is getting more users every day. In response to this, Facebook is rumored to be working on a competitor to Clubhouse, while Twitter Spaces is expanding its beta program in an attempt to slow Clubhouse’s growth.
For those unfamiliar with the subject, Clubhouse is a new social network that is entirely based on audio chats. Users can create and join rooms in which several people talk in real-time, which can be compared in some ways to a live podcast.
The social network has gained a lot of traction in recent weeks as there are multiple influencers who have been interacting with users on Clubhouse, not to mention the variety of discussion topics you can find there. This, of course, has made other companies interested in building their own audio platform before Clubhouse becomes even more popular.
As reported by the New York Times, Facebook is already working on a competitor for Clubhouse. Sources told the NYT that Mark Zuckerberg himself has expressed interest in a new platform for audio communication. Zuckerberg even joined some Clubhouse rooms on Sunday to talk about augmented reality.
Facebook executives have ordered employees to create a similar product, known internally as Fireside, said the people, who were not authorized to speak publicly. The product is in its earliest stages of development, they said, and the project’s code name could change.
At the same time, Twitter has been expanding its new Spaces audio feature to more people. Twitter Product Lead Kayvon Beykpour confirmed to The Verge’s Tom Warren that around 3,000 people were invited to test Twitter Spaces on Wednesday, while 1,000 users already had this feature enabled. Twitter Spaces works in a similar way to Clubhouse, in which users can create rooms to talk to other people in real-time.
Whether Facebook or Twitter will succeed in beating Clubhouse is still unknown, but there are a few things to keep in mind for now. Clubhouse is available exclusively for iOS (at least for now), and it requires receiving an invitation from another user before joining the app.
Twitter Spaces is even more restricted as it’s also only available for iOS users during the beta phase, and invited users are randomly selected by Twitter.
Facebook, on the other hand, is better known for creating cross-platform solutions and making them available to as many users as possible. However, as privacy concerns rise around Facebook apps, users might not appreciate a Facebook app that constantly records audio.
If you’re interested in trying out Clubhouse, you can download the app for free on the App Store and reserve your username until you get an invitation from a friend.
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.
