If you've been online in the past few weeks, you may have heard of Clubhouse There has been a lot of buzz surrounding this voice chat app recently, especially since Elon Musk used it to interview Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev about his decision to prevent users from buying GameStop stock

But what is the Clubhouse app? Here is everything you need to know about Clubhouse, including its purpose, how it works, and how to get an invite

Clubhouse is all about voice and spoken words, not text-based conversations as you might find in other social networks The app allows users to host their own conversations, listen to others' conversations, and in some cases, participate in existing conversations taking place in the community

In general, it is all about hosting, with one person speaking to a silent audience Conversations on a variety of topics are taking place at any given time Thus, one can pop in and out of the room to find something of interest

Anyone can host a conversation, but the clubhouse is already known for talks by many big names These include Mark Zuckerberg, Oprah Winfrey, and Elon Musk, who have helped put the Clubhouse in the limelight Many of the rooms are also hosted by experts, allowing those in the know to listen in on the subjects being discussed

Other users can participate in room conversations, usually by raising a virtual hand Therefore, audience members do not often participate in the conversation

The first hurdle to joining Clubhouse is that it is only available on the iPhone Therefore, Android users are not currently able to use it; the second hurdle is that you cannot sign up for it like you can for Facebook or Twitter

That's right, the latest hit app is also quite exclusive Only existing users can invite new members, and even then only two can be invited So unless you know someone who is already a member of the clubhouse and they like you enough to give you an invitation, you can't join the clubhouse right away

The app is still available for download and you can add your name to the waiting list, but I'm not sure when you can sign up that way

CO Paul Davison has promised that the Clubhouse will eventually be available to all, including Android users Unfortunately, no word yet on when that will happen

Some journalists, especially women, have reported being bullied and harassed by other users Similarly, there are reports of seeing rooms plunged into a mess of racism, anti-Semitism, and COVID-19 denial

Clubhouse similarly pledged to enhance its own security after receiving reports from the Stanford Internet Observatory (SIO); the SIO discovered that Agora Inc a Chinese company that provides the back-end system, had access to user IDs and raw voice SIO discovered that Agora Inc a Chinese company providing the back-end system, may have access to user IDs and raw voice

Clubhouse claimed that the data is stored only on servers in the US and never goes through China, but it plans to add encryption and blocking to prevent pinging the Chinese servers

Much is currently afoot at Clubhouse, with a massive expansion plan underway that the company hopes will put it on par with other major social networking sites

Clubhouse already has moderators, but Paul Davison admits that moderation should be a top priority for any social network He wants to keep the platform as an area that promotes free speech and dialogue, but as the platform grows, more moderators will be needed

Clubhouse has also announced plans to monetize the service, allowing users to generate their own income through the app So far, subscriptions, tips, and ticketed events have been proposed