the worst way to spend a saturday night is writing a thread about Clubhouse so feel free to disregard lol

but i have been wondering for a while why the founders wouldn't want reporters on the platform beyond a couple folks like Taylor who got in before they shut the door 1/x https://twitter.com/TaylorLorenz/status/1264372788091125761

I think the best answer (since they won't do interviews yet either) is that Clubhouse doesn't know for sure what it wants to be yet--or at least how it will explain it to people.

Is Clubhouse a semi-private hangout room that is de facto off record, except for winking tweets? 2/x

Having influential public figures on your app while in beta is great for proving and seeding interest, raising VC and having "the right people" in place when you go broader. And if they tweet about using it, or users tweet about seeing them, that's great! It's still a club... 3/x

Everyone in Clubhouse right now knows a lot of other people also in Clubhouse. Each celebrity in it was invited, and has friends there, whether at Clubhouse's lead investor or through its network. So while chats in there are public, they're still within a circle of trust. 4/x

What does Clubhouse look like when it reaches the App Store? To reporters? Is every chat default on-the-record?

That's how podcasts and other public speaking works: if @LondonBreed speaks on the radio, or in a press conference, the press is there; the comments are public. 5/x

Is something lost if each Clubhouse chat is a public free-for-all and famous people or tech leaders who, among other things, like to criticize the "mainstream media," have to watch what they say?

Imagine Clubhouse with reporters in every room. Is that what early users want? 6/x

My guess is probably not. Say you make Clubhouse semi-public. It has private rooms, invite-only ones. Does that welcome new users? Does it make them feel really a part of the app, if there's basically Clubhouse and Clubhouse VIP? I'm not sure you get a big user base that way. 7/x

So maybe you have to go with a public-private hybrid. One where certain people will go to say off-the-cuff things they don't want to say on Twitter, where there is accountability, or in front of reporters. But also where regular people can join, speak up, and yes--report! 8/x

I am not sure that such a Clubhouse can exist so easily. Maybe it becomes "thought leadership" vehicle where celebs pretend to mix it up like no one's watching or listening -- but we are. Like an off-cuff podcast, but with some features for the audience to ask Qs or speak up. 9/x

If Clubhouse becomes mainly a better way to have a talk show or a podcast it will end up a lot like the previous project its founders were building, Talkshow. My guess is that's not the goal. But it's possible that Talkshow + private chat rooms will be what Clubhouse ends up 10/x

Given all that, I get why Clubhouse wouldn't want reporters in its app. But if the founders want it to become something more than what it sounds like tonight on Twitter -- a group of like-minded people getting excited to feel close to powerful people -- I hope this changes. 11/11