The Rise of Audio and Emerging Social Media Trends that are shaping 2021

Traditional media as we have always known it has been focused on two reactions from its audience: listening or watching. Listening had been associated with platforms such as radio, whilst watching Is closely linked with omni channels like television and print.

Fast forward to 2021 when the world has become highly digitized, the concept of listening and watching hinges on the evolution of social media. The focus here will particularly be on the rise of audio applications which have taken the internet by storm.

At a time when restrictions of the COVID-19 pandemic have resulted in a lot of indoor activities and increased time of ‘loneliness’, there has been a heavy reliance on the use of mobile internet devices. Generally, people would like to listen and also be heard. This is where entrepreneurs and tech elites have come in strongly by launching platforms for casual, drop-in audio conversations.

For instance, In April 2020, the initial release of the drop-in audio chat application Clubhouse was launched by its Founders Paul Davison and Rohan Seth. Developed by Alpha Exploration Co, the invitation-only audio-chat iPhone app is now the talk of the town. It is estimated that the app currently has a total of ten million users, valued at $1 billion, with invitations even selling on eBay for $125! We can understand that this particular app has benefitted from the pandemic, contributing to the growth within a year. However, being an audio app is quite different from what we have been used to in terms of social media platforms.

Users began to grow astronomically after some Silicon Valley personalities such as Elon Musk made an appearance of the app and even tweeted about their experience. Clubhouse has also taken Europe by storm with prominent figures such as Members of the European Parliament all using the platform to discuss their positions and policies.

Drop-in audio apps mostly have live audio features with options to select public or private ‘rooms.’ We can similarly share their likely surge in usage to that of podcasts as one does not necessarily need hosting experience to moderate, and also the general reason where people get away with showing no physical appearance on audio as no one is watching! 

Even though Clubhouse is the pioneer in voice-only chat apps so far and the most successful of course, there are other alternatives with options to download on different operating systems especially Android. Apps like Stereo, Cappuccino, Quilt, Spoon and Anchor are all available on Android and afford users the opportunity to tune in and record conversations live and afterward; a feature that Clubhouse does not have. Cappuccino for example serves up recorded messages over the past twenty-four hours to members; whilst another social audio, BRB allows users to send and receive 30-second snippets of audio messages.

Clubhouse has gained popularity very fast and has definitely set the tone for the future of the audio apps. Let’s look at some of the interesting features of the app:

• Currently, it is still in beta and runs solely on iOS and so only iPhone users worldwide can access the app. Plans are in place to further expand usage to android in a couple of months.
• Clubhouse is known for its exclusivity and is currently ‘by invite-only, reminiscent of the early days of the Facebook app. The app even has a long waitlist of users looking forward to joining the platform. It however announced at a Clubhouse Townhall that it would be dropping the invite-only status to open up to everyone.
• It is purely an audio app with no videos, pictures, text or any form of graphics.
• After each session, a Clubhouse room disappears, and it is also against the community guidelines to record or transcribe a room. Therefore, conversations are available in real-time only and this encourages people to speak their mind freely. 
• Clubhouse requires the use of real names, and it is easy to link other social media accounts to it. Similar to a Zoom webinar, attendees will have to raise their hands virtually to make contributions and will be selected by the moderator or participants on the panel.

Challenges to the growth of Clubhouse and other audio-only apps

Audio-focused apps are now known for being a great alternative for ‘Zoom fatigue’ and intensive app scrolling, especially during the lockdown periods. They have seen many challenges to their growth though, with Clubhouse obviously being put under the bus often due to its popularity and sheer size of users.

The Clubhouse app has plans to expand beyond its initial invite-only style, however, this would not be devoid of controversy and particular hurdles. With the speed at which it is growing, there are certain lapses that need serious attention and sorting out.

The invite-only social audio app has been bedeviled with issues of laxity in terms of moderation allowing certain personalities banned from other social networks such as extremists to be granted access to the platform.

There have been reports of incidents where Clubhouse rooms engaged in racist and anti-Semitist talks. In addition, some female journalists who are also users have complained about being targets of harassment or bullying whilst using the platform. 

Clubhouse has also been incited for privacy and security concerns by mishandling data and giving out access to sensitive user information.

The Chinese government censored Clubhouse after some citizens spoke openly about certain topics on the social audio app. Cybercriminals have also created fake versions which spread malware and steal user information from other social media sites like Facebook and Twitter.

Some of Clubhouse’s problems cut across the other audio-chat apps as well. Issues such as cybercrime and privacy concerns are rampant with being the downsides of technology.

Once we are talking drop-in audio, there are bound to be occasions for freedom of speech and these would definitely create more problems.

Albeit the challenges, there’s still room for improvement, and developers can learn lessons from previous experiences of bigger companies. For example, Clubhouse recently launched its new monetization feature which allows creators to make money for high-quality content and get paid directly on the app. This feature was previously missing and became of great concern to users, especially with trends shifting to self-sustaining businesses.

Social networks definitely evolve over time. Twitter will be launching its audio-chat feature Audio Spaces very soon, with Facebook also said to be developing its own group audio product. Having made appearances on the Clubhouse platform, Mark Zuckerberg himself has seen the potential for social audio apps which he believes has advantages over other formats.

Other Social Media Trends shaping up in 2021

As the world has embraced technology, it is fair to say that social media has come to stay and now part of our lifestyles. Apart from the Clubhouse buzz, here are other social media trends that are shaping up 2021:

Stories are becoming increasingly popular

Stories have become the dominant content format on major social media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram, and this doesn’t look like it is going to change anytime soon. In fact, Instagram has announced that very soon users will have the option to save Instagram Stories as drafts so that they can post them at a later stage. Video stories seem to do better than photos and more brands are increasingly taking advantage of this for their digital marketing.

The VR and AR Media Trend

Recent news suggests that social media giants are all reinforcing their position on Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality by launching new products that make use of these digital experiences. In times of social distancing, VR and AR are in demand as more people are looking for innovative ways to interact and entertain themselves.

Live stream is here to stay

Live stream has been around for some time, but their demand seems to have grown during the COVID-19 lockdown period when sporting activities and live events had to be shown through this means due to restrictions of the pandemic. Beating off competition from traditional media live shows such as television, the live stream is definitely here to stay.