Since it came into the social media scene about a year ago, Clubhouse has been causing a lot of rave. The audio-sharing platform is one of the most successful platforms in terms of how long it has been in existence. Many platforms have either integrated a Clubhouse-like feature on their platforms or are working on doing so. Reddit, for instance, launched its Clubhouse clone called Reddit Talk last month. Global tech company Facebook has been testing a Clubhouse-like Question and Answer platform on the web and has incorporated a look-alike feature in its Messenger Rooms. Facebook is now taking advantage of Instagram which is arguably its biggest products to take on audio-sharing platform Clubhouse.
Facebook announced that it is including features that will enable users to be able to mute their microphones and even go as far as turning off their video while using Instagram Live. According to the company, these new features will enable hosts be more flexible during their live streams. The company says that this will help tackle the pressure associated with looking or sounding perfect while being live. While many people think that this is a useful tool and will encourage more natural and less-pressured hosting experiences, many others think that Facebook is playing rogue by giving users the ability to turn off their videos and microphones while being live.
There are a lot of benefits that this might bring. For instance, the ability to turn off videos will give hosts the ability to multi-task; they can simply plug in their headphones and speak while doing other things. Hosts used to be compelled to being in one place because of the video option, but now they can do whatever they need to do while being live. This is still the biggest advantage that Clubhouse has over other platforms, well it seems like it is no longer going to be an advantage anymore with the rate at which other platforms are adding Clubhouse-like features to their platforms.
Are Instagram new Live options going to be really useful or is just an excuse to raise the competition with Clubhouse? Is Instagram Live becoming a Clubhouse clone with options to mute and turn off video?
