It’s pretty nuts that the first time you hear about something, it already has a market capitalisation of US$100 million. But that’s the pandemic for you, things just run away. Think of ‘Blinding Lights‘ family dance videos on TikTok. Actually, think about TikTok itself.
The link between the surge in downloads of the TikTok app and the coronavirus pandemic is pretty easy to see. Under lockdown, consumers spend much more time on their mobile phones looking for entertainment.
In December 2019, TikTok had 507 million users. By August 2020, it passed the 2 billion global downloads milestone. TikTok reported nearly 700 million monthly active users in July. The short version is, its American user base has increased by 880% since January 2018.
Stay-at-home orders and lockdowns forced people to make their own entertainment, work and socialise online. Zoom literally went zoom. The Zoom share price exploded in 2020 thanks to the pandemic, as there was a global surge in demand for teleconferencing with the sudden rise in working and studying from home. Market analysts say Zoom stock went on an ‘extremely bullish run from March onwards as the health crisis really became a global issue’.
And now there’s Clubhouse. It was only launched in 2020. Apparently it’s an invite-only social app. Mashable says ‘you might have heard of Clubhouse by now, but it’s unlikely you’ve joined.’ Vogue is talking it up, creating a buzz. Be there or be square.
“a dizzying bringing together of live podcast-style conversations, panel discussions, networking opportunities (some savvy people are already swapping ‘influencer’ for ‘moderator’), the social-media app mimics real-life interactions.”
Vogue
All of a sudden, anyone who’s anyone is running workshops. But the thing is, you can’t use Clubhouse without being invited.
Turns out, it’s pretty hard to join the club.