Pauleanna Reid never expected to find love at the Clubhouse. But after speaking at a brand-focused Clubhouse panel, “Social Media Blueprint,” last December, he received a message on Instagram. He quickly moved his conversation to texting and then to phone calls and zooms. Two weeks later, Reid, a famous 33-year-old ghostwriter, flew from Toronto to Washington, DC, where she was greeted with a suite at the Ritz. He spent the next month with his now partner and their relationship is now stronger than ever.
“Everyone has been very shocked, but also very positive,” Reid noted. “And I’d just say inspired by the idea that love can be found in an unlikely place.”
Founded in 2020, Clubhouse is an audio-only, invitation-only app that gained popularity among the Silicon Valley crowd. His reputation is like a virtual drinking trough for men of technology, finance and venture capital who like to be heard talking. At least, that was my impression when I entered the platform in January 2021 and stumbled upon some “rooms” on topics like entrepreneurship, blockchain, and cryptocurrency. Note that Clubhouse only provides one small photo per profile – the rest of the app is based exclusively on audio.
“I know so many people who have participated in Clubhouse appointments,” says Charlotte Broukhim, an active Clubhouse participant who hosts panels several times a week. Broukhim has used the app to match his new Clubhouse contacts with his IRL friends and has observed situations like Reid’s, where people gather in related chat rooms without dating, enjoy chatting, and then they connect through another platform; the Clubhouse does not yet have a direct messaging feature.
“Connections have a chance to be a little deeper, because you get to know each other through conversation,” Broukhim says. If Instagram is able to advance images and Twitter relies on smart implications, Clubhouse may be closer to “real” life, where people, you know, know each other by talking. This new wave of audio-only romance also exists in contrast to dating apps, where a series of photos and statistics (height, job, age) precede any type of conversation, plus there’s no endless sliding .
In fact, while not the intended purpose, Clubhouse will soon be able to compete with traditional dating apps. Now is the perfect time to do so: the pandemic has only intensified virtual dating, especially among millennials and the Gen-Z. Lindsey Metselaar, presenter of the 30-year-old “We Met At Acme” dating podcast, isn’t surprised by the new use of Clubhouse, though even paid apps like Venmo can become places where the couples. “I think anything can be a dating app if you put in enough effort,” he said.