Loud debates, fun banter: Mideast finds outlet in Clubhouse
They are boisterous, argumentative and at times downright hilarious.
Hundreds of thousands of people in the Arab world are turning to Clubhouse, the fast-growing audio chat app, to mock and vent against longtime rulers, debate sensitive issues from abortion to sexual harassment, or argue where to find the best and cheapest shawarma sandwich during an economic crisis.
The discussions are endless as they are breathless.
More than 970,000 people from the Middle East have downloaded the new platform since it launched outside the U.S. in January. It has offered space for inperson conversations in an age where direct contact is at the mercy of the pandemic and it’s brought together those at home and the many in exile or abroad.
But mostly, it has offered a release for bottled-up frustration in a region where violent conflicts and autocrats have taken hold and where few, if any, avenues for change — or even for speaking out — seem tenable.
“It is an open coffeehouse that pierces through what is forbidden by the political regimes in the region,” said Diana Moukalled, a Lebanese journalist who closely follows social platforms. “Clubhouse has made people go back to debating one another.”
The Middle East accounts for 6.1% of the 15.9 million global downloads of Clubhouse, which launched in the United States a year ago. Saudi Arabia ranks no. 7 globally for the invitationonly downloads, with over 660,000, just after Thailand and before Italy, according to San Francisco-based mobile app analytics firm Sensor Tower.
One reason for its popularity seems to be the noholds-barred atmosphere, fueled by the liveliness of group conversation.
Saudis organized rooms to discuss who could replace their aging king instead of his ambitious son, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. They argued with Egyptians over what they considered democracy and with Lebanese and Jordanians over their kingdom’s perceived meddling in their affairs.