Pauleanna Reid never expected to find love at Clubhouse. But after speaking to a clubhouse panel focused on branding, ‘Social Media Blueprint’ last December, she got a message on Instagram. She quickly shifted their conversation to texting and then phone calls and zooms. Two weeks later, Reid, a 33-year-old celebrity ghostwriter, flew from Toronto to Washington, DC, where she was greeted with a suite at the Ritz. She spent the next month with her now partner, and their relationship is now stronger than ever.
“Everyone is very shocked, but also very positive,” noted Reid. “And I would just say inspired by the idea that you can find love in an unlikely place.”
Established in 2020, Clubhouse is an invitation-based, audio-based app that became popular with Silicon Valley audiences early on. Its reputation resembles a virtual watering hole for men in technology, finance and venture capital who love to hear themselves speak. At least that was my impression when I joined the platform in January 2021 and came across a few ‘rooms’ on topics such as entrepreneurship, Blockchain and cryptocurrency. Clubhouse, in particular, only offers one small photo per profile – the rest of the app is purely audio-based.
“I know so many people who have gone to clubhouse appointments,” said Charlotte Broukhim, an active clubhouse attendee who hosts panels several times a week. Broukhim has used the app to match her new clubhouse contacts with her IRL friends, and has observed situations like Reid’s where individuals meet in non-dating related discussion areas, enjoy chatting and connect later through another platform – Clubhouse has not yet a direct messaging feature.
“The connections have the chance to go a little deeper, because you get to know each other through conversation,” says Broukhim. If Instagram is image-forward and Twitter relies on clever jokes, Clubhouse might be closer to ‘real’ life, where people, you know, get to know each other through talking. This new wave of audio-only romance also exists unlike dating apps, where a range of photos and stats (height, job, age) come before any kind of conversation – and there’s no endless swipe.
Indeed, while not its intended purpose, Clubhouse will soon be able to rival traditional dating apps. Now is the perfect time for it – the pandemic has only intensified virtual dating, especially among millennials and Gen-Z. Lindsey Mason, the 30-year-old host of the “We Met At Acme” dating podcast, is not surprised by the new use of Clubhouse, noting that even payment apps like Venmo could become places for couples to meet. “I think anything can be a dating app if you try hard enough,” she said.