I could never get into Clubhouse. It felt like lousy radio whenever I went into one of the chatrooms. It’s not for me.

A couple of times, I was one of the speakers. Speaker? Is that the official Clubhouse term?

Engaged in conversation with other speakers is interesting. But as a member of the audience, something about it on Clubhouse felt impersonal, disorganised, and lacking interaction.

In the audience, Clubhouse gives ‘fly on the wall’ vibes, but I felt like screaming, “Can I ask a question real quick.”

Clubhouse would fair much better if speakers allowed for high audience participation like that debate show hosted by Chris Morris. Or does that happen?

Yesterday I had a nosey around on Twitch, the streaming platform for gamers. Owned by Amazon, Twitch is a ten-year-old platform and still growing strong.

Twitch reminds me of Clubhouse somehow, but way better. For starters, by and large, the focus was fun and lighthearted, with lots of audience participation.

Some of you will tell me Clubhouse is fun, and perhaps it is if you like to discuss the same rehashed topics repeatedly, but entertainment doesn’t strike me as the intent of chatrooms. Come for me in the comments.

Even though it’s been around for so long, I think Twitch is ahead of its time. It’s a snapshot of things to come – social media to come. It gets close to reality from everyday people without a skilled camera crew, production crew, or shot in a beautiful villa -nothing wrong with a beautiful villa. But the thing is, the audience gets to participate in that reality actively.

Sadly, the audience participation can get creepy at times. But doesn’t anything that involves people?

Noticeably, engagement is high on Twitch. Engaging with the chat keeps viewers invested in the stream. And most of the streamers I saw had a few hundred views tuned in. Enviable numbers for some brands, I’d imagine.

Unfortunately, few brands have clocked on to the power of live streaming content. Some may not even know Twitch exists. Maybe that’s a good thing. Brands never do rough and rugged very well. They are too busy polishing everything up, worrying about the data when that energy should focus on creating.

Live streaming shouldn’t require too much thought. All you need do is switch a camera on to whatever you’re doing. And none of it should be scripted or organised, or planned. Just live.

I should point out, Twitch also gives ‘fly on the wall’ vibes, but the constant audience interaction makes it highly engaging. And a huge plus…the visual aspect adds dimension to the emotional connection between creator and audience.

Done well, the right brands can rock on Twitch. I have so many ideas bubbling just thinking about it. Whether they collaborate with live streamers and a handful of brands has already done this. Or, set up their own honest, rugged and fun Twitch channels, live streaming is the future, baby.

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