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Want to know how Clubhouse uses product psychology to draw in users and generate hype? Check out this post.

GrumpyNl 6y ago
Sounds to me like the chat boxes we use to have on premium numbers.
tonyjstark 6y ago
I kind of admire how it is done, not saying I like it but I respect the player. I really reads like someone reads Nir Eyal's _Hooked_ and executed most of it. Especially the elitism created by invite only, with some kind of 'hacks' for aspiring users like reserving the user name. Then the possibility to be part of a conversation, maybe even with celebrities. Let's see what kind of platform it becomes, at some point they need to make money and a lot of advertisement will creep in. And then, as the article mentioned, let's see how it works out with hate speech and all the things humans seem to produce whenever they don't fear direct consequences.
chrisseaton 6y ago
I don't think they're trying to draw users in yet? It's invite only isn't it?
- tmp538394722 6y ago
  Yes it’s invite only. Yes that is a strategy to draw in users, potentially more effectively than being wide open. It’s in the article.
  - chrisseaton 6y ago
    How can that draw users in? The point is it's exclusive. If you read the article it says 'and boy, are invites hard to come by'. So they can get my interest... but they literally can't draw me in can they because I can't join if I wanted to. They can't convert.
    - deleted 6y ago
      [deleted]
    - tmp538394722 6y ago
      It’s in the article
      - chrisseaton 6y ago
        Do you know it's against the site guidelines here to just accuse people of not reading the article rather than actually presenting an argument? It doesn't matter how attractive a platform is if you simply aren't going to get onto it. Clubhouse can make me interested, but can't actually get me onboarded.
        industriousthou 6y ago
        Yeah, it's not in the article. I can imagine a scenario though, were they gradually increase the number of invites they give out. I think the idea is that the perception of scarcity will persist, even when invites aren't really scarce.
        tmp538394722 6y ago
        Right - the bulk of the article is about how the “cool factor” of scarcity and variable rewards induce a demand greater than what might be there if they were simply wide open.
        carmenhchung 6y ago
        So two things: first, they are opening the app up to anyone (and on Android) in the near future (timing TBC of course). It'll be interesting to see if the hype they've built will last all the way through to then. Second, I fully agree with you that opening the app up is actually problematic for them. It's almost like the opposite of the network effect, where I think having more people on the platform is going to potentially make the quality deteriorate. Right now, it feels authentic but somewhat curated (i.e. we have moderators who invite high-profile and very interesting panelists on to speak) - I'm not sure that will be maintained when it becomes a free-for-all.
carmenhchung 6y ago
I forgot to mention, here's a TLDR visual story if you aren't a fan of long-form: https://stories.nws.ai/1288496439/how-clubhouse-went-viral/ https://stories.nws.ai/1288496439/how-clubhouse-went-viral/

Sounds to me like the chat boxes we use to have on premium numbers.

I kind of admire how it is done, not saying I like it but I respect the player. I really reads like someone reads Nir Eyal's _Hooked_ and executed most of it. Especially the elitism created by invite only, with some kind of 'hacks' for aspiring users like reserving the user name. Then the possibility to be part of a conversation, maybe even with celebrities. Let's see what kind of platform it becomes, at some point they need to make money and a lot of advertisement will creep in. And then, as the article mentioned, let's see how it works out with hate speech and all the things humans seem to produce whenever they don't fear direct consequences.

chrisseaton 6y ago

I don't think they're trying to draw users in yet? It's invite only isn't it?

tmp538394722 6y ago
Yes it’s invite only. Yes that is a strategy to draw in users, potentially more effectively than being wide open. It’s in the article.
- chrisseaton 6y ago
  How can that draw users in? The point is it's exclusive. If you read the article it says 'and boy, are invites hard to come by'. So they can get my interest... but they literally can't draw me in can they because I can't join if I wanted to. They can't convert.
  - deleted 6y ago
    [deleted]
  - tmp538394722 6y ago
    It’s in the article
    - chrisseaton 6y ago
      Do you know it's against the site guidelines here to just accuse people of not reading the article rather than actually presenting an argument? It doesn't matter how attractive a platform is if you simply aren't going to get onto it. Clubhouse can make me interested, but can't actually get me onboarded.
      - industriousthou 6y ago
        Yeah, it's not in the article. I can imagine a scenario though, were they gradually increase the number of invites they give out. I think the idea is that the perception of scarcity will persist, even when invites aren't really scarce.
        tmp538394722 6y ago
        Right - the bulk of the article is about how the “cool factor” of scarcity and variable rewards induce a demand greater than what might be there if they were simply wide open.
        carmenhchung 6y ago
        So two things: first, they are opening the app up to anyone (and on Android) in the near future (timing TBC of course). It'll be interesting to see if the hype they've built will last all the way through to then. Second, I fully agree with you that opening the app up is actually problematic for them. It's almost like the opposite of the network effect, where I think having more people on the platform is going to potentially make the quality deteriorate. Right now, it feels authentic but somewhat curated (i.e. we have moderators who invite high-profile and very interesting panelists on to speak) - I'm not sure that will be maintained when it becomes a free-for-all.

carmenhchung 6y ago

I forgot to mention, here's a TLDR visual story if you aren't a fan of long-form: https://stories.nws.ai/1288496439/how-clubhouse-went-viral/ https://stories.nws.ai/1288496439/how-clubhouse-went-viral/