[christopherslee]

I thought it was interesting to think about what Clubhouse was displacing. It felt the most analogous to radio. So, what could you do if you had radio at internet scale? Or what would it take to make internet scale radio successful?

In my mind, it came down to how challenging it would be to produce and monetize content. It's non trivial work. Producing a good radio show that's worth listening to takes a lot of time and effort. Podcasts are a good example here. I think there's data out there that suggests most podcasts don't have more than 1 episode or survive the first year. Without a good way to monetize, it's not worth the effort.

So while easy in the short term for celebrities/influencers/celebrities/VCs to jump on the bandwagon, the effort wouldn't be sustainable or worth it to them in the long run, and then you have a content problem again.

I also experienced some dark onboarding patterns while I checked it out that make me suspect their growth numbers were a bit over inflated, in an ask for forgiveness later kind of situation.

[tptacek]

We've had Internet radio for almost 2 decades; it's called "podcasts". It's literally eaten "real" radio; NPR probably has more podcasts than broadcasts now.

[Kye]

That seems to support christopherslee's point. NPR already had what it needed institutionally to do podcasts people wanted to listen to and the reach to make sure they have a chance to reach an audience. I could start one and probably do okay because I already know a bit about audio engineering and marketing and can make my own music, but most people start from 0.

[sjg007]

I thought they could be an add on to podcasts or radio shows where instead of having a phone bank or twitter feed, people listen in on clubhouse and then when picked by the host they get to talk or win tickets or whatnot.

[snowwrestler]

Clubhouse filled in for going out and talking to people.

I don’t think their decline is any great mystery. Concern about the pandemic declined, people started going out again, and stopped listening in on audio chats on the Internet.

Twitter Spaces is not doing great either, but it doesn’t really matter because it’s just a feature, not a whole business.

[azinman2]

If you could go out and talk to celebrities, sure. Or hear off the cuff celebrities from different worlds mix.

That’s what made it so exciting in the beginning… making it feel like you were part of an exclusive club even if you weren’t a famous person. Eventually the hype fades because the bar lowers, and the most interesting people move on.

Your point about Covid is also fair… the timing was good.