Clubhouse Isn’t Only What the Reporters Have Reported

It’s so much more. Not that it’s without problems. Of course it has problems; it is a social network that contains people. Now about 12,000 people. Soon even more. What did you think was going to happen?

But first let’s talk about the good parts of Clubhouse. On Wednesday night, two gentlemen host a room called “the Cotton Club.” All you need to get in is to change your avatar to that of your favorite jazz musician.

One of the hosts acts as “bartender,” and you can order virtual drinks. The other is the DJ, and you can request tunes. All of this is just an audio chat, but it gradually takes on the character of an old time jazz club, down to the bartender trying to sell you “50 cent wings and 75 cent empanadas.” These guys are so talented that they’ve got the voices of jazz announcers and hosts down pat and you really feel like you’re in The Cotton Club as you drift off to sleep.

In another room, on another night, a charity that raises money to pay the water bills of Americans who need help paying their utilities raised $15,000 in an hour by throwing a birthday party for a Clubhouse member, and asking everyone to change their avatars to that of the charity.

In yet another room, native Spanish speaking members from all the Spanish speaking countries in the world hold a “Casa Club” on Sundays where they allow noobs like me to learn to speak Spanish, something I’ve wanted to do all my life. I’m learning Spanish the way they learned English — by…