A short reflection on an exclusive app called Clubhouse.

The recent mobile application which was trending among the circles of the influential, celebrities
and policy makers, was making headlines on various social media platforms. Reputedly a
contemporary response to the cancel culture prevalent in the Silicon Valley, this application enables
select users to join and host various discussion on the platform. Not everyone can use this
application. At the time of writing this post, the application is limited to mobile users operating on
iOs, and will need to be invited into this application by an existing member. High profiled persons
like Oprah Winfrey and members of international supranational organisations are reputedly
engaging in discussions on this application.

The unique feature of this application is that users communicate via voice clips. This is a departure
from previous trending social media platforms like Twitter which emphasises visual-textual
communication.

On a personal level, I have a growing number of friends who have been looped into the application.
They comprise from those in the social activism and civil society circle, to those who are merely
curious about the use of the application. One thing is certain is that the level of exclusivity is a lure
for many. After all, who doesn’t want to be in the same room with the likes of personalities from
World Economic Forum.

I initially despair over the application only made available to mobile users on iOS. One of the reasons
I have favoured the Android is the adaptability and the relatively low monopoly of parts (that is to
say, I do not need to buy a certain brand of cable or charger for my phone should I need one, for
example). I have also agonised over the fact that this exclusive space is reserved for those whose
existing members deem worthy of being admitted. Yet, I was adamant at gaining access. Then, it was
a friend of mine who helped me process some of my thoughts and agony. Why was it that I was
desperate at gaining entry? Did I believe that the access would help me serve my community better?
Or was it that the lure of exclusivity was affirming my sense of importance? With head downcast, I
regrettably admitted it is the latter.

The agony slowly dissipated, as weeks passed. I silently watched my friends posting shots of their
Clubhouse discussion rooms, featuring some celebrity. I also found Clubhouse invitations on sale on
the local e-commerce platform. If this is far what the originators envisioned, I must say this is a great
undoing of the application which was meant to be exclusive use of high-profiled persons.

As someone who considers himself active in the civil society, I do believe that core values are critical
as anchors to our work. Should and in the event the social enterprise I am sevring the community
through gains traction, I would pray the day would not come when I succumb to every lucrative deal
by big corporations who are responsible for the inequitable world we are living in. Analogously,
when inclusion is the overarching theme of my work, heaven forbid that I should one day revel in
exclusivity and fame-dom for fame’s sake. In many ways, the end doesn’t justify the means before
we lose ourselves and the battles we wake up to fight every day.