Hello, Geeks! 👋
First off, I want to start by giving a big thank you to everyone who replied to last week’s edition of Geekout, where I asked for feedback on the length and format of this newsletter.
I had a ton of great suggestions. The general consensus from those who got in touch was you liked the length of Geekout and how comprehensive it was. You valued it being your one-stop shop for ALL the week’s social news and updates. So, for now, I won’t make any big changes :)
This week I have spent a good chunk of my time exploring two new social apps / networks which have generated a bit of buzz amongst social media geeks like me, largely due to the old-school ‘invite-only’ growth trick both are using. Unsurprisingly, this has led to a LOT of DMs asking me for an invite.
Telepath and
Clubhouse (tap those hyperlinks to get up to speed on what both platforms are all about).
Telepath, with its auto-deletion of your posts after 30 days, feels like a platform which may have some staying power. It certainly seems to have been the one which most people have asked me about and also interests me the most due to its simple chat thread style and topic-based channels you can create or join.
Clubhouse is all about audio (voice) channels and feels a little more intimidating to jump into. It also requires more of your time on the platform to get value from it. Clubhouse has also generated
unsavoury headlines recently due to issues related to moderation, bullying, and harassment etc.
The big question is whether they will still exist a year from now, or end up in the social media graveyard along with the likes of Google Wave, Vine, Ello, Peach, App.net, and hundreds of others. Watch this space.
If you score an invite or have already joined either platform, search me out and follow me there, or reply to this email and let me know what you think of them.
— Matt