A new Clubhouse concierge service has launched
Clubhouse users who are tired of waiting for their turn to speak can now hire a ‘concierge service’ to do the waiting for them.
The service, which is being offered by home services provider Fantastic Services, will allow “time poor” Clubhouse users to get on with other tasks instead of waiting to have their say on the new audio-only social network.
When the user is called to speak in a room, they will be alerted by their concierge and can join the conversation. The service will cost £12 ($17) per hour.
“We have seen that our clients are wasting hours on Clubhouse waiting for a turn to speak for 30 seconds, so wanted to offer a solution to help,” said Rune Sovndahl, co-founder of Fantastic Services.
“Especially during lockdown, many people have limited time – with balancing kids, home schooling, work and other Zoom meetings – you just can’t afford to sit and wait in an app. So, we have acted quickly to provide a solution to the trend and feel this service will be incredibly popular based on trends we have experienced in the past.”
Poor etiquette?
The concierge service may save the time-strapped speakers time, but it’s likely to be regarded as poor etiquette on the fledgling social network, where the general vibe is it listen to other speakers and then bring your own contribution, not just turn up to speak and then disappear.
There’s also the potential issue of missing your slot. If a speaker who is called on can’t instantly respond to the ping from their hired help, then it’s likely the room moderator will simply move on to the next person who wants to speak.
Saving your place in the speaking queue isn’t the only way Fantastic Services says its concierge staff can help on Clubhouse. It claims its concierges can also help with room moderation, inviting other users to your room and “profile optimization”, amongst other things.
The company insists it doesn’t need your Clubhouse login and password to run the concierge service. A Fantastic Services spokesperson said that the concierges will “keep track of the conversation in Clubhouse and aim to be room moderators”.
“This allows them to ping and add their clients to the conversation exactly when it matters to them. As such users don't waste time listening to chit-chat that's not strictly connected to their expertise.”
Clubhouse is certainly the up-and-coming social network of 2021, but it’s not without its problems. A whole host of security issues were recently identified, not least the fact that the company uploads your phone contacts and uses them for marketing purposes, something which privacy advocates claim breaches EU law.
