Various Celebrity Controversies That Contributed To The Clubhouse's Popularity, Gimmick Or Reality?

Clubhouse Application (Mahesa / VOI)

JAKARTA - Clubhouse is a popular social media platform. It has even been called "The Next Star Social Media" in a decade by the Bloomberg website.

Warganet also has many sentences to describe this application. Some call it "TikTok for adults," or "A never ending Zoom webinar."

Now its popularity is increasing. Thanks to the selection of issues and interesting discussion. Starting from raising black content creators, sellers and adders of Bitcoin, generation Z moguls who own several digital agencies, to linguaphiles.

Then, is Clubhouse just a gimmick-triggered phenomenon, or is it a new model that has the potential to disrupt the podcast industry, which seems to be getting tired of looking for innovation?

To get these answers, VOI searched digital data, recorded the views and responses of various media - both national and international.

Various Controversies Behind the Popularity of Clubhouse

Based on Vulture's records, Clubhouse's popularity began to climb in early December 2020. At that time, Chet Hanks - rapper, virtual personal, and son of Tom Hanks, joined and opened a new discussion room.

Instead of celebrating a specific themed discussion, most of those present insulted Chet for hours. Chet was considered to be committing cultural deprivation when he, as an American national, used the languages AAVE (African American Vernacular English) and Jamaican Patwa in a post shared on Instagram in January 2020.

#ChetHanks hopped on Clubhouse to address his use of patois. 😆 # Clique, are you offended by his fake Jamaican accent? pic.twitter.com/R3F7zi5fTZ

- ItsOnSite (@ItsOnSiteTV) December 4, 2020

In a way, this event gave a new meaning to the Clubhouse platform. Without the participants knowing, Chet could hear and respond directly to complaints and sharp criticism from users who filled the virtual discussion room.

Unlike Instagram or Twitter, where public figures can freely communicate in one direction and do not care about warganet comments or replies. In the Clubhouse room, every speaker can communicate directly. Chet, who claims to enjoy reading Alex Haley's book entitled "The Autobiography of Malcolm X", had to experience a time where he listened firsthand to criticism from other users.

Chet Hanks is not the first. Furthermore, a series of names and prominent figures took turns adding new controversy through this platform. An example is Kevin Hart, who was present to create a new room at the end of November 2020.

The room entitled "Is Kevin Hart Funny?" should be a place for direct discussion between Kevin, the famous comedian from the United States, and fans. Talking about jokes such as “Zero F ** cks Given Special.

Unfortunately, what happened was a heated debate between Kevin and fans. A black woman is known to have presented a counter criticism that dismissed the issue of Kevin Hart. Finally, the debate was recorded by one of the users and spread through the YouTube platform.

Another controversy took place outside the United States. In China, this application is equally popular. This is because users are free to hold discussions related to politics and the latest social conditions. It was so busy that some even sold invitations to join the application via e-commerce.

Not Just Controversy

Kevin Hart and Chet Hanks are just two examples of a series of public figures who have created controversy through this platform. However, Clubhouse does not only offer controversy.

Users can also find relaxed chat rooms. In fact, this platform can also be used as a place to make connections or have a casual chat.

Indeed, every discussion that takes place does not always end in a predetermined discussion limit. Unless the space is filled by experienced moderators who are able to redirect the conversation so as not to get too distracted.

An example is a discussion room created by Jason Lee Fox Soul. Discusses heterosexual women who date bisexual men, and presents Tiffany Haddish who talks about her experiences dating bisexual men. The discussion went on without controversy.

And now, as we all know, Clubhouse is still under development. His age is still relatively young. Therefore, companies often get from users to immediately crack down on accounts or discussion rooms that campaign for hate speech and online bullying.

Interested in joining this application?