What? Another One? Simi Dive?

First of all, to my readers who don't speak or understand Hokkien (which is the most popular dialect in Singapore), "Simi" means "what"?

I like this title because two weeks ago, I came across another audio app called "Dive". And immediately my first reaction is "we have another competition in the audio chat market ...."

At the time of writing, we have already Clubhouse (which I have been using since December 29, 2020), Twitter Space and Telegram Voice Chat. In addition, rumour has it that Facebook and LinkedIn are also working on their own audio chat platform. Discord and Slack are also having voice chats.

What is Dive?

Dive is an exclusive audio space for professionals of all industries.

On the AppStore, it is stated that "You can create, join or schedule audio rooms for live discussions, share insights and learnings about your career and industry, but also collaborate on ideas to bring humanity forward."

At first glance, this app sounds like Clubhouse.

Hence, I believe it would be useful to make the initial comparison between Clubhouse and Dive.

Google Play Store versus iOS AppStore

At the time of writing, Clubhouse is still only available on iOS AppStore (despite the fact that Clubhouse is working on launching the Android version). On the other hand, Dive is available on both iOS AppStore and Google Play.

Another difference is that the target audience. Obviously, Dive declares that its target audiences are professionals whereas Clubhouse is attracting a wider range of audiences.

I could not find any written documentation or guidelines for Dive (as I understand that the Dive team is working on that).

Having said that, on April 12, 2021, I had the opportunity to ask Lucas Consoli in the "Dive Roundtable - Open Q&A" and he hinted that the target audiences Dive is attracting are professionals who can be found and are using LinkedIn.

It is important to note that this is my understanding of what Lucas shared with me. Whether there will be a shift of focus or attention of Dive to other audiences is something that remains to be seen.

At this juncture, you are reminded that one can include Twitter and Instagram account links in his/her Clubhouse profile.

Connecting your Profile with Other Social Media Profile and External Links

And for Dive, it is obvious that you cannot include your Instagram and Twitter accounts. Instead, it is your LinkedIn account and also a URL to whichever place you want your audiences to go to (which you can't do the same in your Clubhouse's profile).

Inference can then be made to confirm what Lucas has shared. If you don't have a presence on your LinkedIn account, or you are not in a profession that would justify why you should be using LinkedIn, Dive may not be the app you should be using.

You can join Dive only by invitation

Similar to Clubhouse, one can join Dive when an existing user invites you. It works exactly the same manner as Clubhouse. You can download the app from either Google Play or iOS AppStore and join the waiting queue.

The truth is that Dive will not give you immediate access unless you are invited by existing users. So I can imagine that new users may be asking around on LinkedIn for invitation (reminding me of the days when people are looking for Clubhouse invitation).

All existing users upon joining Dive would get two invitations. It works exactly the same as Clubhouse. The more active one is using Dive, the more invites the user will get.

Dive Profile versus Clubhouse Profile

Since Dive is a platform for professionals, I can imagine that your profile on Clubhouse (assuming that you are using Clubhouse now) may be different from that on Dive.

It is like the advice we gave in the early days of Clubhouse - you may need a few versions of your profile targeting different audiences. The same principle can be applied here. My Clubhouse profile and my Dive profile are completely different for this reason in that my Dive profile focuses on my expertise in legal, accounting and tax, which basically every single entrepreneur would have to understand.

In my four months of Clubhouse experience, I barely see anyone who is interested in legal, tax and accounting issue. At least, I don't see such rooms in my Clubhouse town hall.

Interestingly, these are the topics where LinkedIn professionals are more interested. I recalled I spoke in one room this week in Dive, and it attracted likes and good feedback from the audiences on Dive.

Apparently, these are not yet the topics on Dive

This is just my first week of using this platform and therefore, it is my disclaimer. Things may change later when more users join Dive.

Internet Marketing, Facebook Marketing, Social Media Marketing, AAIP and Black issues, Gender Diversity, Women Empowerment, Instagram Marketing Strategies ...

Maybe these are popular topics in Clubhouse. I have seen someone who created a room wanting to talk about video marketing. Interestingly, this person cancelled the room within minutes as no one responded or expressed any interest in this topic in Dive.

So, after all, is Dive really for you?

Here are my few observations for you to consider when you are considering using Dive:

1. Are you already too busy speaking or browsing Clubhouse? If so, do you have any additional time to test out another new platform?
2. Do you use LinkedIn as a social media platform for network connection and businesses? If you are not using LinkedIn or are not an active user on this platform, maybe this is not for you. You should spend more time looking into how to work more effectively on Clubhouse or other platforms.
3. Are your targeted audiences on LinkedIn in the first place? Some users of Clubhouse said that they created their Instagram accounts because of Clubhouse. So, even though you may not have a LinkedIn account now, you may think about whether it makes sense to join Dive and also set up your LinkedIn account. There is nothing wrong with that thought. You only have to understand that Dive's philosophy and Clubhouse's philosophy are different, from what I understand after speaking to Lucas. I will write future articles on this topic once I have more information.

I trust this article will give you some clues about Dive as an audio social chat platform. If you have any questions about this article, feel free to comment below. See you in my next article.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank Lucas Consoli, Co-Founder of Dive who invited me as the pioneer user from Singapore to value add this app from an Asian perspective.

Jack HM Wong (Founder - Dragons Den Tigers Cave)

PS: Follow me in Clubhouse or join my Club "Dragons Den Tigers Cave" which we meet every Saturday at 9 pm GMT+8