There's a social media app that's invite-only ⁠

Guys, I’m doomed! It’s only been a few months since I have purged the Instagram app from my life because of how it was taking it over. I had a serious addiction and I knew it was just time to let it go.

But now, there’s Clubhouse. Clubhouse is going to be the new Instagram. And the way they’ve set it up, people are clamoring to get on it. Which means, so am I!

It’s like that popular Christmas toy that’s manufactured in small quantities to purposely make it difficult to get, thus increasing the demand.

As if Instagram, Twitter, YouTube and Facebook weren’t enough, Clubhouse is on the rise. It launched last summer, allowing just over a thousand users, most of whom were Uber-hip Silicon Valley workers and Venture capitalists. The app is unique from other social networking apps because it’s closed and hierarchical, meaning users must be invited by someone already on the app in order to access content. As users can only invite two people to join the app, it is pretty exclusive.

Access to Clubhouse gives you the opportunity to participate in and watch casual, drop-in audio conversations with people all over the world. And it looks so cool! Many of these conversations are led by leaders of the tech industry such as Elon Musk, as well as other celebrities like Kevin Hart. These are people we see daily on our own social media platforms as well as the news, however, which led me to wonder why the exclusivity of the app is so necessary. We live in a world where practically nothing is kept private anyways.

After looking into the app some more, it seems like there is a greater appeal to join knowing that not everyone you know will have access to it. Clubhouse is much different than any other platform because although any user can tune into a live, there are several limitations. Each live has a moderator that controls who gets to speak and can also control who is in the room. Lives are also never recorded, the idea being that it’ll promote more candid, uncensored, unfiltered conversations if people know the live sessions can’t be rewatched.

It seems this, coupled with the status of being a member (as well as just the sheer curiosity of what’s going on in there) has given non-Clubhouse members FOMO and a frenzy to chase down an invite code.

Unable to get a code? Clubhouse has a waitlist, but that doesn’t seem to be moving any time soon. Until then, I think I’ll go back to Instagram where regular people like me can hang out uninvited.

The post above reflects the thoughts and observations of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Judi Franco. Any opinions expressed are Judi's own.