A new survey has suggested that social media users were not impressed by the Android version of Clubhouse launched on Sunday 9 May.
The data collected by Meltwater tracked social media mentions following the release of the Clubhouse Android version. Clubhouse is a social networking platform that is based on voice and allows users from around the world to come together to talk, listen and learn from one another in rea-time.
Social media mentions are often used to show the level of awareness a brand is receiving and also a form of feedback on a specific product or service. In many cases mentions have led to referrals and consumer acquisition. For example, positive mentions could convince other social mentions to test out a service or product.
Clubhouse announced it would be releasing an Android version of its very popular audio-only chatting service. Before now Clubhouse was only housed on iOS-enabled devices leaving many users unserved in different markets where Android was not popular. Clubhouse said it was launching a beta Android app on the Play Store for users in the United States of America. It plans to gradually make the app available in other English-speaking countries and then the rest of the world.
Read Also: Facebook test Clubhouse clone in Taiwan as competition for live audio rooms thickens
The Meltwater data says the reactions to the news are different from the previous year.
Last year, mentions on “Clubhouse” received a consistent social reach of over 1 billion people worldwide since April 2020. The highest global reach was just under 3 billion people in August 2020. The data recorded 165,000 mentions on “Clubhouse” at the time.
The highest number of “Clubhouse” mentions – 221,000 – came in December 2020. According to the data, by then users had become familiar with the app and were now taking a bigger interest in how the social networking platform worked.
In contrast, on the day of the announcement for Clubhouse Android from the company’s Twitter account, the data recorded more than 5000 mentions on the app and received a social reach of 210 million. The following day, 10 May 2021, the numbers rose to over 6000 social media mentions and a social reach of 279 million. There was a decline in both mentions and reach which the data is unable to explain specifically.
“Clubhouse” mentions on 10 May 2021 include articles wondering if the Android release was a little too late for the app to compensate for the decline in downloads it was experiencing.
The article by Social Media Today cited data from Sensor Tower that showed that Clubhouse’s total download numbers dropped 72 percent in March after it rose to its highest at 9.6 million in February. Facebook’s announcement that it has released a clone version of Clubhouse in Taiwan for testing in May also contributed to the decline in mentions for Clubhouse.
Among those who mentioned the company on social media, the majority expressed mixed feelings on the availability of Clubhouse on Android devices. About 91 percent of all mentions recorded by the data were neutral in sentiment.
“This could be due to Android users still warming up to the idea of finally joining Clubhouse and that the Android beta version is available in the United States of America and will not roll out to other countries in due time,” the data read.
Only 5 percent expressed positive sentiments about Clubhouse being available on Android while 4 percent of online users feel negative about it and genuinely consider it too late to start using the app.
Nigeria led the mentions in Africa with 49 percent of the mentions on “Clubhouse” and “Android”. Many Nigerians who commented welcomed the idea of the Android version of Clubhouse, with some users beginning to share their invites alongside upcoming events.
