AMA with the GIGA editorial team – on Clubhouse

Console chaos around PS5 and Xbox SX, the new Galaxy S21, WhatsApp in the end game – we have to talk. With you, to the clubhouse. On Wednesday, 3:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m., we’ll meet in the new Hype app to talk to you about the current tech and games topics that concern you.

GIGA on Clubhouse: The most important things in brief

What?
GIGA live – technology, bread & games # 1
We chat with you about current topics from the tech and games world. You can of course also give us feedback on GIGA and ask us what you always wanted to know.

When?
Wednesday, 3.2., 3 p.m. to 4 p.m.

Where?
This link takes you directly to ours GIGA clubhouse. Alternatively you can find our talk in the schedule overview (the small calendar icon at the top of the Clubhouse app)

Clubhouse: Hype app with a doorman

Clubhouse, this live-podcast-radio-call-in-show hybrid, has been the number 1 topic in the tech scene in Germany since mid-January – at least among iPhone users. Because so far the app is only available for iOS, Android users are still looking into the tube for the time being (the development of the Android app has already been announced). In addition, so far you can only register if you have been invited by a clubhouse user.

Where does the sudden hype come from? That should have something to do with the current world situation. Because the clubhouse is a replacement for the many small conversations that we miss in the current Corona isolation. The quick chat at the coffee machine in the office, the regular football table – if you find a public talk, you can just get in and listen. If you want to say something, the moderators in the room will bring you on stage and on the microphone. If the talk is too boring for you, you can go unnoticed at any time.

Clubhouse also offers a very intimate setting for discussions with experts who are otherwise not so close. For example, many celebrities are already active there: from Tesla boss Elon Musk to FC Bayern star Thomas Müller and SPD politician Kevin Kühnert to TV greats such as Klaas Heufer-Umlauf and Thomas Gottschalk.

Criticism of clubhouse

When an app takes off in Germany, however, it always has to ask itself special questions, for example: What about data protection? The answer: not so good. The app’s handling of address book data is particularly criticized. Clubhouse not only reads them out so that you can send invites, but also creates shadow profiles for the contacts found – after all, they are all potential users.

Another point of criticism: Talks are little or not controlled, which in the USA, where the app has been popular for many months, led to many incidents with racist or misogynistic statements. This is admittedly difficult with a live talk, but the founders have not yet had an answer to the question of how to prevent the spread of hate speech.

If you want to get a picture of the app yourself, you can use it in App store download – and, for example, join our GIGA live talk.