Clubhouse, The hottest ticket in town ask Kevin Hart

This afternoon while you were cyber shopping and zoom messaging your grandmother, social media history was made.

For the first time ever the highly exclusive Clubhouse app glitched. 

A harmless conversation about whether or not Kevin Hart is actually funny turned into a verbal attack from clubhouse female users to the comedian/movie star said to be worth $200 million. The uncharacteristically aggressive conversation drew in thousands of listeners. 

The confrontation rocked this community leaving members asking: is the app growing too quickly?

Image form TechCrunch.com

What is Clubhouse?

Clubhouse is an invite-only (for now) audio social app founded by Paul Davison and Rohan Seth in March 2020.

How to get an exclusive Invitation?

Clubhouse invitations are scarce by design. Only members can invite you. Each member gets one…yes one invite. The app rewards your participation in the app by gifting more invitations to that highly engaged user. If you take a look at the Clubhouse guide you can learn more.  I wonder if someone pinged Kevin Hart?

Who is in this elite community? 

Active members range from the Founder of Mashable Pete Cashmore, Media Personality and former Rapper Joe Budden, and Flourish Media Conference founders Dr. Tracy Timberlake and Vivian Olodun (me). 

Since October, it seems many in the community are weary of new members. There’s been a shift on this platform from a community of thought leaders to slowly include aspiring gurus, trolls, and users that - according to some - simply don’t belong, Rooms are popping up from users titled things like “What happened to Clubhouse?” and “ So everyone is an expert now…huh? 

Seasoned Clubhouse users find themselves asking “Why are people putting their CashApp in their bios?” 

What is a welcome party?

Clubhouse is a young app but it already has traditions. One very special tradition on the app is the “Welcome Party.” It’s an orientation of sorts to explain the community rules and norms. Existing members - led by the person who invited you - are supposed to host this “party’ for you. The goal is to integrate you into the community culture. The behavior has been successful in cultivating an open self-regulated community. Due to an increase in new members during the Thanksgiving holiday, this tradition seems to have been lost. 

Is Kevin Hart funny?

Not according to the women on Clubhouse who challenged him in a Clubhouse room! Admittedly, I was not in the room when this happened but I was on the app listening to a thoughtful conversation about tech investing and startup funding. 

Behind The Leaf hosts Flourish Media Conference where we connect women business owners with funding. Using apps like Clubhouse gives us a chance to connect with potential partners on a deeper level. Learn more about attending Flourish Media Conference in Miami, Florida by joining our Private Facebook Group here. 

After the app started to glitch for the first time, I joined the room “Why are black men defending Kevin Hart?!” I listened to two women vent about what they describe as a humiliating experience with Kevin Hart in front of thousands of users. 

Looking for a fair perspective, I then jumped into a room titled something like “Kevin Hart was gracious after being disrespected on this app.” Other rooms soon popped up with titles such as: “Great Topic…Bad Moderators” “Don’t ask Kevin Hart if he is funny,” “Black people love negative energy.”

If you’re on the app, I don’t need to tell you what went down. This isn’t a gossip blog so I won’t get into that. I’m sure you’ll hear more about Kevin’s encounter with @Ayoedilay and @wannasworld soon enough. 

If you’re not on the app: Clubhouse is the hottest ticket in town. The quality of the sound is amazing. The marketing around invite-only membership is reminiscent of Gmail and Facebook’s early days. We at Behind The Leaf will be watching. If you’re planning on launching an app or community service you should be watching the Clubhouse marketing strategy closely and taking notes.

If you’re on Clubhouse follow Flourish Media Club for our weekly meeting Flourish Tribe. You need to also follow @VivianOlo and @DrTracyT to become a member.