It may seem counterintuitive to recommend an audio-only social app to photographers, but hear us out—there’s a lot this new app has to offer.
Welcome to the next era of social media: audio. Clubhouse—the live audio-only social media app—launched in 2020. Within a year, it has quickly grown to ten million users. The platform has become known as the corner of the internet where social media actually feels . . . social.
So, why should any photographer join an app that’s not even visual? Here’s why we think Clubhouse is beneficial for photographers, and our recommendations for five clubs to join.
What Is Clubhouse?
Clubhouse feels like a live TED Talk meets SXSW meets cocktail party, where you get to hang out with your friends, like-minded individuals, and the people you look up to (and sometimes even a celebrity, Silicon Valley venture capitalist, or tech billionaire).
The app is invite-only for the moment, largely free of ads and brand partnerships, and only available on iOS, all of which has helped to maintain its elusiveness and scrappy tech start-up feel.
While internet buzz has quieted around the app over the past few weeks, there’s still a thriving community of photographers hanging out on Clubhouse and plenty of opportunity for you to jump in and get acquainted with it.
How Does It Work?
Clubhouse works by letting people drop into audio chat rooms that disappear once they end. Since Clubhouse is voice-based only, you can’t upload or share photos (more on that in point four below), videos, or even text. The point of Clubhouse is to hear real people speak—bringing all the intonation, emotion, inflection, and slang of a real conversation—in real-time, around a topic you’re interested in or knowledgeable about.
In a room, there are moderators, speakers, and listeners. Moderators and speakers talk from the stage. Below that, you’ll find the front row audience (people who are followed by the speakers and moderators). And below that, the listeners.
Like other social sites, users can check out profiles of the moderators, speakers, and other listeners, and follow other people on the app.
Why Is Clubhouse Beneficial for Photographers?
Find Your Niche
There are a ton of incredible photographers on the app, appealing to each niche within photography. It doesn’t matter whether you shoot cars, people, weddings, elopements, or food, you’ll find a club with others in your field.
When Strangers Feel Like Friends
Clubhouse is a community of strangers, but it doesn’t feel that way. Surprisingly, the app feels like a giant drop-in picnic where new people quickly become friends. That’s not to say the app is safe from scammers and users who aren’t creating an inclusive and safe space, but you’ll also find a growing grassroots community of Clubhouse users who are enforcing community standards as the app figures itself out.
Access to Creative Collaborations
Want to be part of a huge international 35mm film swap? It’s possible thanks to Clubhouse. There are tons of collaborations and joint projects happening on the app, helping to breathe new creative energy into your work. If you’re feeling stagnant, participating in a Clubhouse project is a quick way to get jazzed about shooting again.
Portfolio Review
If you’ve never participated in a portfolio review, Clubhouse is a good place to start. Agencies can be tough critics and editors hard to pin down, but a community of fellow photographers who you look up to is sometimes the best feedback you can get. Wondering how a portfolio review on Clubhouse works? Users can connect Clubhouse to your Instagram account, and because Clubhouse allows the app to disappear into the background while using it (meaning you can still text or open other apps while using Clubhouse), you can check out another user’s Instagram feed or online portfolio while still chatting.
Tip: PTR—that’s pull to refresh, a Clubhouse term you’ll frequently hear—is where you refresh your profile photo. It’s often used by photographers to upload an image of their work to share and review in real-time.
It’s Spontaneous and Random
Clubhouse is known for bringing together people who might not otherwise connect, providing direct access to the pros. You never know who you’ll hear talk or who you may get to ask a question to. It could be a Q&A with Elon Musk about photographing life on Mars, or you may audibly bump into a Kodak employee who you can nerd out with about your favorite film stock. The endless, random connections and opportunities are what makes this app so addictive.
No More Screen Fatigue
Screen fatigue is real. We’re used to being on our phones, devices, and computers all day long, but day in and out, this can be draining and exhausting. Since Clubhouse is voice-based only, it doesn’t require you to look at the screen for hours. Much like a podcast, you can listen to Clubhouse while you fold laundry, commute, cook dinner, or relax.
Mentorship
We’re so used to social media being a glorified highlight reel, but Clubhouse feels like the antithesis of this. The TED Talks-like vibe of Clubhouse encourages it to be a positive, stimulating, and friendly space for learning and mentorship. Want to learn about the best scanners for printing your work? How to land bigger clients? Or how to break out of your creative rut? You’ll get crowdsourced answers to these questions and more all by participating on the app.
It’s Still in BETA
The app is still in BETA, which makes Clubhouse feel organic and raw, a throwback to the early days of social media when brands and users hadn’t yet learned how to monetize our feeds. (This is just starting to happen on Clubhouse, and if you’re into this kind of thing, the opportunities and benefits for both brands and users look promising).
It’s Invite-Only
Clubhouse is still invite-only and available on just iOS for now. Clubhouse is looking to grow slowly. And, even though ten million users sounds like a lot, it’s small compared to other social giants.
It Offers Accountability
Conversations on Clubhouse aren’t recorded, so if you miss out on a room, you can’t access it later on. This ensures accountability on the part of its users to show up to scheduled rooms and creates a sense of FOMO around the app.
How to Find Rooms?
You can search for rooms based on the topics you want to listen to or see a list of rooms in the hallway (a.k.a. your main feed) that might be a good fit for you based on your interests.
You can also see what rooms the people you follow are in. And, if there’s nothing appealing to you at the moment, create your own! Rooms can be created within a particular club or they can be entirely open to everyone in the Clubhouse.
Rooms can be either one-off events or regularly recurring nights.
Clubs vs. Rooms
This is an important distinction. Think of a room as an event and a club as a space to hang out with all your favorite people. Clubs can host regularly scheduled rooms, whereas rooms can be created by any number of people and can be single, one-time events.
5 Clubs to Join If You’re New to Clubhouse
1. Full Time Hobby
A catch-all club for inspirational, nurturing conversations with photographers that you look up to. In Full Time Hobby, you’ll get career advice, deep-dives into specific photography niches, and tech talk. This club is more about casual education, networking, and learning than purely just conversation, but that’s what makes it so great. Where else can you access so many photography mentors in the same space?
Topics covered: Career | photography and videography | printing
2. 35mm Film Analog Lives Club
Have burning questions about film photography? You’ll find the answers here. This club is home to both beginners and advanced film photogs, covering everything from film stock to specific cameras to printing, developing, and scanning. Once in a while, you may just find a surprise Kodak employee guest who pops in to answer our questions. How cool is that?
Topics covered: Cameras | film stock | development, scanning, printing
3. All Day Dreaming
All Day Dreaming is a radio and music show meets co-working space that’s open to everyone (not just photographers). It’s a fun corner of Clubhouse to drop into when you’re editing photos and need new music to listen to. But, the best part is there’s built-in accountability for whatever you’re working on. The moderators will ask listeners to talk about what they’re working on, then host a work sprint of thirty minutes (this is where the tunes come in), followed by a check-in to see what you were able to accomplish.
What’ll you find: Good tunes | co-working buddies | accountability check-in
4. Creator Class
This club is where creatives and business intersect. Think of this as your professional development for photographers and artists.
Topics covered: Clients | industry panels | business tips
5. Find Your Own
We’re cheating slightly here, but the beauty of Clubhouse is all about finding a club that appeals to your interests and work—from NFTs in photography (NFT Photography) to food photography (Tastemakers: Food, Photography, and Culture) to Black Creatives Roundtable, to Latinos Who Photograph. Whatever you’re into, you’ll find it on Clubhouse.
So, download the app, secure that coveted invite, and start reaping all the benefits of Clubhouse now.
Check out these related articles:
Cover image via KrerkStock.
Source link