Everything You Want to Know About Clubhouse for Foodies
You can hardly have missed it: Clubhouse has arrived in the Netherlands. The app is the latest social media sensation, originating in the US. And it has also been widely adopted in the Netherlands recently by a first wave of Dutch early adopters. FavorFlav’s Marcus Polman has been happily hanging out there for hours at a time and is enthusiastic. There is plenty to enjoy for foodies too. In this article, he gives you a kickstart to ‘Clubhousing for Foodies.’
You will also have seen increasingly more posts about Clubhouse on your Instagram, LinkedIn and Facebook over the past few weeks. Still not exactly sure what it is? That’s not surprising—you’re not the only one. Here’s a brief explanation…
Unlike Instagram, where everything revolves around beautiful images, Clubhouse (CH) is entirely audio-based. Once you have downloaded and opened the app, you can choose from lots of rooms (‘rooms’ in CH jargon) full of people talking to one another. They speak on a virtual stage or listen from the audience. If you would also like to speak, you raise your hand and can be invited by the so-called ‘moderator’ to join the stage and ask a question or respond to what is being discussed.
Endless Stream of Topics
The topics discussed in the rooms are endless. A selection: educational rooms about, for example, dealing with difficult-to-raise children. Voice-guided morning meditation sessions. ‘Divorce or stay together’. Friday-afternoon drinks rooms, just as if you were chatting in a pub.
The number of visitors varies per room, from intimate rooms with ten attendees to larger rooms with 400–500 people in the audience (a full-sized theatre). For example, the hugely popular De Ochtendshow (daily from 08:00 to 09:00) hosted by Sander Timmermans, featuring interviews and audience interaction with leading figures from the worlds of media and business. Clubhouse is also compared to a gigantic conference centre, with lots of small rooms featuring live talks, where you can drop in and out to listen in or join the conversation.
Whether Your Hair Looks Good
Clubhouse is voice-only, and that is precisely its strength. What do I enjoy most after spending several weeks hanging out in my new clubhouse? There is no camera, so you don’t have to worry about whether your hair looks good. You can listen or talk on your mobile phone while folding laundry, jogging or lying on the sofa. And you regularly stumble by chance into super-interesting rooms with fascinating people who have a real story to tell. And if you end up in a boring room, you can quickly move on (with the ‘leave quietly’ button).
Clubhouse is an ideal place for casual listening. Voice alone also allows for nuance and can add depth. That is why Clubhouse feels above all very real, in my experience. Another fun thing: you might suddenly find yourself on stage with one of your heroes who would normally be far away (Tesla CEO Elon Musk hosted a room with more than 7,000 people in the audience earlier this year). So having a chat with that top chef you admire or your favourite football hero is just one click away. Fascinating, right? You can also (very easily) create your own room—with an engaging topic—and host it.
Pointless Chatter
Is there pointless chatter on Clubhouse? Absolutely. Just like in a pub. So you need to find your way around and look for what you do and don’t find fun and interesting. Finding your way around is not yet that easy at the app’s current stage of development. Like other social media platforms, CH uses an algorithm. The suggested rooms you are shown depend on the interest profiles you can specify yourself. And because everything is still fairly new, this does not yet work optimally.
You also follow people and receive notifications (which you can turn on or off) whenever people you follow are speaking somewhere. Those notifications are far from flawless either. Good to know: the app, launched in the US in April 2020, is a so-called beta version and is therefore still fully under development. But the developers say they are working hard on improvements to the search function so that you can find relevant content and rooms more quickly and easily.
Not for Everyone
Despite what its name might suggest, the clubhouse is not yet for everyone. That also contributes to the current ‘buzz’ around the app. By creating a sense of exclusivity (iPhone only and using a limited number of personal invites), the app seems to be becoming even more attractive. This applies even to non-CH users who are still waiting for an invite. CH has a high FOMO factor (fear of missing out). The app is currently only available to iPhone users; Android users are expected to be able to download the app at the end of March. That will bring in a new wave of users, and the platform is expected to become even more relevant.
What Can You Do with It as a Foodie?
Rooms are now being hosted in the Netherlands at a rapid pace by Clubhouse enthusiasts. There is increasingly more to find for foodies in Dutch rooms too. Think of live wine-tasting sessions (such as one with wine journalist Esmee Langereis). Or a room titled ‘Olive Oil Nerds’ and a room specifically for champagne lovers. There are also rooms such as ‘De Bourgondiers’, where food lovers exchange their experiences and tips.
And of course, we foodies at the FavorFlav editorial team are already happily active too! Our editor-in-chief Sharon, for example, appears on the ‘Keukenconfessie’ stage together with FavorFlav’s special snack reviewer Eke Bosman a.k.a. snackspert. In this room, I host food-writing colleagues and top chefs every week, with the topic ‘Tips for Home Cooks’ and kitchen confessions. With favourite recipes, blunders and guilty pleasures. And every week, a hero dish that we discuss down to the last detail, such as hamburgers, pizza or snacks (every Tuesday from 17:00 to 18:00, with regular co-host Robert Kranenborg).
And so we regularly have more top names from, among others, the FavorFlav Food Top 100 on this stage. And of course, Clubhouse offers much more: are you interested, for example, in what goes on in professional hospitality? There are also lots of rooms where chefs talk among themselves about the business side of gastronomy and market trends. Or do you want to know everything about halal food or, say, the keto diet? There are rooms for those topics too—and if they do not exist yet, they certainly will!
Practical Information
Not on Clubhouse yet, but interested? Then you can take the following steps:
Download the app (from the Apple App Store), and create an account and username. Just use your own first and last name; Clubhouse is very personal, and amusing aliases or fake names do not work particularly well if you happen to end up on stage.
To gain access, you then need an invite from someone who is already on Clubhouse. Every newcomer gets two. If you are very active and also host rooms yourself, you get more. Once you have received an invite from someone in your network, you can activate your account and start exploring.
Another tip: when signing up, Clubhouse asks for access to all your contact details (including names and phone numbers). This makes it easier to invite people and make connections afterwards. If you consider this (for good reasons) too much of an invasion of your privacy, know that giving access to your entire contact list (you cannot select individual contacts; it is all contacts or nothing) is not necessary. You can find your way around perfectly well without it too.
What’s Next?
Clubhouse is expected to grow explosively in the coming period, especially once Android users join. The founders are doing everything they can to technically scale the network amid this enormous growth in visitors. If you use Clubhouse, you will notice that not everything runs perfectly yet and that there are occasional glitches. But that is also part of the pioneering spirit of Clubhouse. Other platforms such as Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter are also working hard to add an audio feature. Because pretty much everyone agrees: audio is a really cool addition to everything already available on social channels.
Follow FavorFlav Editors on Clubhouse!
Would you like to connect with FavorFlav editors on Clubhouse? We would love that! Go to the profile page of Sharon, Marcus, Snackspert or one of the other Favor Flav editors, and follow us on Clubhouse too. You will then automatically receive notifications about fun sessions and food rooms we are attending.
Join Our Club!
Are you a foodie looking for an interesting club about food and cooking? Then this brand-new Clubhouse Club is highly recommended: ‘Tips voor Thuiskoks’. A special Clubhouse Club where cooking fanatics and renowned chefs come together. In special sessions and rooms within this club (a sort of club within the club), hobby cooks and foodies can ask renowned chefs anything they like. Featuring top chefs such as Julius Jaspers, Robert Kranenborg and Joris Bijdendijk. We at the FavorFlav editorial team are also active within this club. Are you on Clubhouse and would you like to follow this great club? Click this link. Not on Clubhouse yet? Save the links and we will see—and above all hear—you later!
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