Clubhouse

Clubhouse is an American social audio app for iOS and Android developed by Alpha Exploration Co. that facilitates real-time, audio-only communication within virtual "rooms". Launched in March 2020 by Paul Davison and Rohan Seth, the platform is characterized by its "drop-in" nature, where users can join live discussions on a wide range of topics as either listeners or speakers. Unlike traditional social media platforms, the service focuses entirely on ephemeral voice-based interaction, lacking native features for video, text chat, or permanent public recordings. The application experienced a surge in global popularity in early 2021, fueled by an initial invite-only exclusivity model and high-profile appearances from figures such as Elon Musk, Oprah Winfrey, and Mark Zuckerberg. During this period of rapid growth, Clubhouse reached a valuation of approximately $4 billion and inspired the development of similar "social audio" features across other major platforms, including Twitter (through Twitter Spaces), Spotify (through Greenroom), and Facebook. Although it was initially an iOS-exclusive service, the company expanded to Android in May 2021 and removed its waitlist in July of the same year, opening the platform to the general public. Since its peak, the service has introduced new features, such as private "Houses" and asynchronous audio messaging, to adapt to the evolving social networking landscape.