Clubhouse introduces Backchannel DM feature to meet rising user number

Leading invite-only social audio platform, Clubhouse has reportedly disclosed that it has rolled out Backchannel, its direct messaging feature to permit users with interactions in one-on-one as well as in group text formats.

Apparently, this official launch follows the snafu that occurred last month when the firm accidentally leaked the novel feature to a selected group of Clubhouse users who updated the app on their Android and iOS devices.

If reports are to be believed, Clubhouse, within just a year, has witnessed explosive growth whilst compelling industry incumbents, including Spotify, Twitter, and Facebook, to come up with similar audio products, as well as to indulge in strategic acquisitions within the space.

For the uninitiated, the concept of Backchannel is relatively simple, as it does not involve any pictures, video, or text-based chat rooms. Reportedly, the users, once logged into the app, will be greeted with a few live, virtual rooms, wherein they would see a list of the participants. In addition, when clicked on the room, the audio would switch on and the users will be able hear the conversation.

Reports also reveal that the number of monthly app installs across the world, earlier this year, had declined by millions, falling from a peak of around 9 million in February to 900,000 in April.

Notably, the company records nearly 10 million weekly active users and has added 8 million new users since its launch on Android in early May.

According to sources, the CEO of Clubhouse, Paul Davison, hinted at the new growth spurt and reportedly quoted that the company had witnessed the joining of one million Android users soon after its release on the Google mobile operating system. He added that millions of people were on the waitlist.

The CEO also mentioned that the company needed to carefully add novel users at the time,  in order to curb the decline in user experience and app performance, which occurred during its  first big growth wave.

Source Credits

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/07/14/clubhouse-launches-direct-messaging-feature-backchannel.html