Clubhouse Adds Text Chat Feature to Social Audio Rooms

Clubhouse has augmented its social audio rooms with text-based chat for those who want to participate but can’t or won’t try to get on the stage and speak. The in-room chat feature works much like the chat in a Zoom meeting or Discord event, with Clubhouse pitching it as a way for people to share their thoughts even when a room is too big or centered on just a few speakers.

Clubhouse Chat

The in-room chat is an option that room creators can enable or not as they choose. If available, people in the room can open the chat by tapping an icon on the screen. Room participants can send messages while the room is open and have the option to delete any of the messages both during and after the event if they make an error they want to remove. Moderators can also delete any messages they choose. The moderators can remove people from the room for what they say in the chat just as they can for what they might say on stage and anyone can report those who violate Clubhouse’s guidelines.

“Many of you want a way to join in on the conversation from the comfort of the audience. And we get it – cause even on the internet, stage fright exists,” Clubhouse explained in a blog post on the new feature. “For creators, in-room chat will offer another touchpoint with audiences in a room and provide a way to get feedback in real time. We hope that this will make conducting quick polls or sourcing questions from the audience that much easier, and bring engagement to the next level.”

Expanding Communication

The chat log doesn’t vanish when the room closes. The Clubhouse Replay tool added late last year to archive the room experience now includes the text chat if it was enabled. Both Replay and the chatrooms pick up on Clubhouse’s race to cover every The chat and Replay extend the streak of new features for the social audio app using the vast amount of investment it garnered early in its existence. The broad range of new elements audio quality enhancer Music Mode, live event sensory recreation with Spatial Audio, the Wave audio chat, and the Backchannel direct texting tool. As Clubhouse competes with Twitter Spaces and other social audio rivals for users and high-profile partnerships with the likes of the NHL and TED Talks, more options and customization are likely to roll out just to keep up.

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