In news that will surprise absolutely no one, Facebook is reportedly now in the process of developing its own Clubhouse clone. As we know, Twitter is also set to move ahead with a similar audio Spaced feature.
Of course, Facebook already has its video ‘Rooms’ and similar meet-up tools but it doesn’t offer the exact same functionality. With the Clubhouse approach generating more interest, it seems logical that Facebook would look to add something similar. It already has the infrastructure in place and the scale to provide similar tools to its audience in an attempt to migrate the audience and perhaps even invalidate the app altogether.
Despite aggregating over 2million followers already, Clubhouse has no defining feature that can’t easily be replicated by other platforms. Part of the attraction of audio rooms is their simplicity – it’s very easy to switch into an audio room, with minimal technical requirements, while on the platform side, audio connection doesn’t take up the same server load as video meet-ups. That will inevitably lead to many copycat apps, and again, it comes as little surprise to see Facebook, and other platforms, considering their own options, as Clubhouse’s numbers continue to rise.
Facebook, of course, has a long-running habit of replication, copying the key functions of basically every rising social app as it looks to utilize its massive scale to quash competition, and stop users from migrating to new pastures.
The most high-profile example of this was Instagram Stories, which Facebook replicated from Snapchat back in 2016 after first trying to acquire Snapchat for $3 billion. Even back in its early stages, Facebook took ‚inspiration‘ from other apps. itt reportedly copied the ‚Like‘ button from Friendfeed in 2007 while more recently, the platform has sought to stifle the rise of TikTok by adding its own Instagram Reels feature
Given its history for adapting features from its competitors, this new announcement will be no surprise. It will be interesting, however, to see if Facebook can introduce a better version of the Clubhouse-style experience, especially given the ubiquity of Facebook groups, where such a tool could become hugely popular.