Clubhouse voice chat leads a wave of spontaneous social apps

That’s why there’s a social tech product I expect will emerge: the availability indicator — a way of knowing which friends and acquaintances are free to hang out synchronously. That could be for a quick phone or Zoom chat, a gaming or co-watching session, or an IRL rendezvous (in masks at distance for now). It’d be an evolution of the old green ‘on... See more

It’s clear what they see as Zoom’s biggest shortcoming: serendipity. Both Branch and With use the word “serendipity” in their one-line homepage descriptions, while Huddle opts for “spontaneity” and Gather promises that you’ll “bump into your colleagues.”

How do you know when to break into a conversation in a virtual meeting without interrupting someone else? How do you re-construct the aimless but essential conversations that happen during a Friday casual demo hour with food? The esprit de corps of a well-constructed all hands that fires everyone up? And I’ve never seen anyone conduct a productive ... See more