What aid organizations need to know about Clubhouse

Clubhouse: The new social media craze that’s garnered millions of fans and was most recently valued at more than $1 billion after little more than a year in existence. If you’re not using it already, you’ve almost certainly heard of it — but what does it mean for global development? First, the basics Forget the text, pictures, and videos that form the basis of other social media platforms. This audio-only app allows users to host live conversations and panel debates. Hosts can invite participants to the “stage” to speak, while up to 5,000 others can listen in or raise their hand if they have something to say. The conversations are intended to be open, informal, and ephemeral: Users hop in and out at their convenience, and conversations aren’t recorded for latecomers — in most cases, you’ll need to be there live to listen. Some users say this informality, in combination with the lack of video, helps people to open up and have “real” conversations. “It feels very kind of cozy … very intimate, if you like. You really have a profound connection with the colleagues that are in the same [virtual] room, so you can actually open up and have serious conversations … [with] people that share ... the same interests,” said Dante Licona, senior social media officer at the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. “I see the pictures on the news but I would have never felt the same way that I did while listening ... It actually felt [like] I was right there experiencing and learning [about] what’s happening with my donation.” --— Miriam Wagner-Long, CEO, Agentur Zielgenau GmbH Some analysts believe this model could be the next big thing in social media, with “Zoom fatigue” driving the popularity of audio-only options. Twitter has just rolled out a similar feature called Spaces and Facebook and LinkedIn are working on their own versions. So while the Clubhouse craze may pass — downloads have already dropped a lot since the February peak — some see it as important to get familiar with the format for communicating with supporters, aid recipients, partners, and even funders. Who’s on it? Clubhouse began as an app for the Silicon Valley clique but has grown exponentially, with around 10 million users as of February 2021, according to Statista. Until very recently, it was only available on iOS, making accessibility its biggest early challenge. However, an Android version was released in beta in early May, and you still need an invitation from an existing user to join. As its popularity began to boom, one of the first groups it attracted was dissidents and rights activists living under authoritarian regimes, who were able to organize and hold open conversations using the app before regulations caught up with it. That window is already closing: Some countries such as China, Jordan, and Oman have blocked it. Although it is not possible to record conversations within the app, there have still been reports of people taking screenshots and recordings in order to target activists. It’s important to bear that in mind when hosting conversations. Major names in the global development and humanitarian space who have accounts include Ulrika Modeer, assistant secretary-general at the United Nations Development Programme, Avril Benoȋt, executive director at Doctors Without Borders USA, and Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, executive director of UN Women. Bill Gates has also taken part in at least one conversation. When it comes to organizational accounts, it’s a little more complex. At the moment, Clubhouse wants all user accounts to be linked to individuals, with organizations instead encouraged to create “clubs” — essentially, a community of users who regularly meet to talk about a particular theme or shared interest. But there are many such clubs that may be of interest to development professionals, and organizations using the platform include the Food & Agriculture Organization, the UN Refugee Agency, IFRC, and Médecins Sans Frontières. “We find it so difficult, when you’re raising money abroad, for your donors to actually engage and have conversations with the people that are benefiting from their funding, so I want to play with it that way.” --— Kelvin Glen, South Africa-based fundraising specialist What’s it useful for? One of the app’s key selling points is that it enables free-flowing debates and conversations in a way that can be difficult on other platforms. Users say it already appears to be highly international and can be useful for connecting across borders. For IFRC, which as an organization has been on Clubhouse since February, Licona said the goal is to use it as a space where they can make their experts available for discussions and convene conversations with community members, supporters, volunteers, and staffers. While some users note a risk of getting caught in a bubble on Clubhouse, Licona said it can help organizations reach new audiences by tapping quickly into other networks — for example, if someone joins one of your conversations, all their followers get a notification, so it can be worth trying to attract influential speakers from outside your usual network. During a session at the Resource Alliance’s Fundraising Online conference in April, South Africa-based fundraising specialist Kelvin Glen said he hoped Clubhouse could foster more collaboration between people and organizations in the nonprofit space. He’s also exploring the possibility of using it to connect donors with aid recipients. “We find it so difficult, when you’re raising money abroad, for your donors to actually engage and have conversations with the people that are benefiting from their funding, so I want to play with it that way,” he said, noting that the lack of video can help to protect aid recipients’ privacy. “I also think it’s a great learning platform where we can have good conversations, we can argue, we can talk, we can share ideas ... It’s a wonderful, human [form of] networking, unlike [something like Twitter] where it’s all text. I think this is a lot more personal,” he said. While Clubhouse’s utility is still being explored by nonprofits, “if fundraisers don’t get on board, you are going to be left behind,” Glen said. Miriam Wagner-Long, CEO at German fundraising agency Agentur Zielgenau GmbH, described a Clubhouse session she attended where a United Nations program staff reported on its work from the Syrian border and took questions from listeners. “For me that was such a tremendous opportunity because … I see the pictures on the news but I would have never felt the same way that I did while listening ... It actually felt [like] I was right there experiencing and learning [about] what’s happening with my donation,” she said. Clubhouse is also working to roll out a payment button that would allow users to send money to their favorite “creators.” That could be a direct way for nonprofits to use the app for fundraising. Are there any other issues? Something to be aware of, especially when using the app for professional purposes, is that there’s currently no process for identifying official accounts or clubs, such as an equivalent to Twitter’s blue tick. While it’s possible to tell something about an account from its profile — including who invited the user and other social media accounts that it’s linked to — there have been some reports of imposters. In a statement to Devex, Clubhouse said “users must use a real name and identity. If we receive a complaint about a potential fake name, we may require users to provide identity verification.” Organizations joining the platform late may also find there are already communities established in their name. For example, clubs that center around discussions of the U.N. may have no affiliation with it. As with all social media platforms, there have also been problems with trolling. That includes during conversations on sensitive topics, which can attract “polarizing voices that might try to find a public forum for active confrontation,” Licona said. While there are robust reporting mechanisms — including the ability to ban a user from your club if they breach the rules — moderation is key. A host can choose moderators who are then responsible for helping the conversation flow and deciding who gets to speak. “It’s so important to keep … an emphasis on good moderators that can facilitate both the conversation but can also do it in a safe way for everybody involved,” Licona said.