Instagram May Create a “Clubhouse” in the Future!
Last night, I was browsing Hindustan Times’s website pages and noticed a very interesting article about Instagram. The article revealed a rumor about Instagram’s new feature — audio chat room, and point out the new feature may be the solution to compete with the popular Clubhouse app. After I finished reading, I was really excited about the development direction of Instagram, and I think it may have more potential in digital marketing.
Instagram & Clubhouse
Founded by Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger, Instagram is a photo & audio-sharing social platform. People can use the application to share their photo and audio contents to audiences, and meanwhile browse the contents shared by the people they followed. In 2012, Facebook acquired the application for approximately 1 billion US dollars, and Instagram becomes one of the most popular social media platforms today.
On the other hand, Clubhouse is a new player in the social media market. Created by Alpha Exploration Co, Clubhouse is an application that provides audio chatting function to users. Because of its invitation-only model and celebrity impact on the market, Clubhouse’s unique feature attracts many audiences and ranked first among free apps on Apple Store in early 2021.
Detail about Instagram’s new feature
According to mobile leaker Alessandro Paluzzi’s Twitter posts, Instagram is at an early stage of video chat room development. The existing leaking photos show the Instagram new feature will require microphone and camera authorization from users’ phones. The leaked layout photo also displayed the “Muted” and “Exit” buttons which may be required for the chatting room. Besides the leaking photos, Alessandro also mentioned Instagram is developing an “end-to-end encrypted chat” to compete with Clubhouse application.
My thoughts
In my opinion, Instagram noticed the trends and potential of an audio chat application for the social media industry. The company makes a quick move to counter the threat from competitor Clubhouse. The new features would allow users not only to share content but also have interaction through video chat. It also is a fresh channel for marketers since the new feature brings a new model to communicate with users on Instagram.
However, I think Facebook and Instagram management team may need to reconsider the position and purpose of the Instagram application. Because of too many new features adding to Instagram, the application may be too complex to use and no longer fit its original photo contents sharing purpose. Facebook could invest more time in the audience research to figure out the geographic characters, user preferences, and lifestyle for different features. After finishing all the preparation, Facebook may have a new insight about their product lines and develop a better “Instagram”.
