Clubhouse, an emerging social networking platform, born during coronavirus-driven blockages, has given users the chance to connect through intimate audio conversations with virtual strangers even while isolated at home.
But as the platform continues to grow, the same model that allowed users to connect while physically separating raises concerns about how the app will handle the spread of misinformation.
Unlike traditional social media platforms, where a user’s footprint is more permanent, conversations in the Clubhouse’s chat room are not recorded by the app, making it “essentially impossible” to discern the spread of false information or harassment, Emerson Brooking, senior senior resident in the Council’s Digital Forensics Research Laboratory, told The Hill.
“Because your words do not follow you as in the case of a Twitter account, you feel more relaxed and that means that the application works as intended. But, of course, it means that it also presents special dangers “, added Brooking.
Brooking said the Clubhouse model allows users to feel inclined to speak freely, without necessarily thinking about whether they share accurate information – or the consequences of spreading misinformation.
Clubhouse is designed to allow users to enter and exit chat rooms focused on various topics. A listener can choose to participate by raising his or her hands, and a moderator can then allow them to become a speaker in the room.
Moderators or the user who turns on the Clubhouse can add or remove other speakers, allowing them to guide the conversation.
The clubhouse provided people with a platform to host informal panels in a wide range of areas, while conferences and traditional events were canceled due to the pandemic.
But the informal nature of the application has already led to reports of the spread of misinformation, including the spread of false claims about coronavirus and coronavirus vaccine, as Vice reported earlier this month. Such false claims continued to affect traditional social media platforms, even though Twitter and Facebook have pledged to reduce content.
“It’s a huge concern right now that this could be an ideal meeting place for members of the anti-vaccine community, as it gives people the opportunity to convene friendly clubs that talk and raise anti-vaccine content. And I can control the course of the conversation so that other voices are not heard, ”Brooking said.
Clubhouse rules for users prohibit the dissemination of “false information or spam”, as well as abuse and harassment. And, although Clubhouse does not usually record its sessions, the platform’s guidelines state that it has a temporary audio recording in order to support incident investigations. If a user reports an incident in real time, the platform is prompted to keep the temporary record.
But if a user reports an incident after the camera is over, the platform will not have access to the camera sound to support the investigation, according to the guidelines.
As the application continues to grow, so may the problem of misinformation.
The platform was first launched with a smaller set of users in March last year, around the time of the global crashes. Despite being still in a guest-only phase, Clubhouse has grown rapidly in popularity, surpassing 10 million installations globally since Friday, according to data provided by application analytics company Sensor Tower.
A Clubhouse spokesman did not respond to comments to confirm how many active users are on the platform so far, but in a blog post from January 24, Clubhouse estimated that it had about 2 million users that week.
Since then, the number of installations has increased. In the three weeks between January 25 and February 14, Clubhouse recorded approximately 6 million installations globally, up 400% from the previous three weeks, based on Sensor Tower data.
People who download the app and are not yet invited are allowed to enter their information to receive their invitation to join through a reciprocal connection that is already a member or to receive a notification when the app is open to the general public.
The application has already attracted high profile users from Elon Musk
Elon Reeve MuskSpaceX has built a real commercial space line for fun, profit and a good cause The oldest American bank BNY Mellon holds Bitcoin for Mastercard customers to support cryptocurrencies MORE to Lindsay Lohan, enhancing the platform.
“I think it’s the new place you have to be, at a time when you have nowhere to be,” said Jennifer Grygiel, an assistant professor of communication at Syracuse University.
“Many people who started this were influential. Even they stayed home during this pandemic, “Grygiel added.
Clubhouse could have a leg up in mitigating the spread of viral misinformation compared to its traditional social media counterparts, according to experts.
Unlike almost any other platform, including Twitter and Facebook, there is no “reblog” feature that allows users to share their posts with each other, which is often how posts, including misinformation, are spread to a wide audience.
“If there’s one thing that really sets it apart, it’s the reduced virality capacity built into the platform,” said Aram Sinnreich, a professor at the American University School of Communication.
While some have expressed concern that misinformation could spread more freely as conversations disappear after a chat room has ended, Sinnreich has downplayed this concern. Users prone to a wide audience would be wary of archived or supervised conversations from an external source, he said.
“I believe that anyone who deals with the influencer – a public figure, a celebrity, a professional propagandist or misinformation disseminator, a political organizer – anyone with such a job a description will be aware of the limited security and the ability to monitor and archive Clubhouse and they will act accordingly, “Sinnreich said.
“And anyone who is not aware of this and feels more free to express themselves than they would say on Facebook or Twitter, is an ignoramus who does not understand social media and therefore has limited ability to include other people,” he added. he.
However, as more people join the platform and it is open to the public, the changing user base could change the application culture and lead to additional risks of spreading misinformation, experts warned.
“There’s a future a few years down the road, where if Clubhouse were to follow Facebook, a demographic group over the age of 65 would start massively joining the platform,” Brooking said, noting that Facebook was launched as a site reserved only for college students.
“And instead of being a place where Silicon Valley elites have high-tech conversations, it would practically become the future of talk radio,” he added. “And if we go this way, then the dangers of misinformation and misinformation would be much more pronounced.”