👋 Say hello to Backchannel, the new direct messaging service for Clubhouse!
Backchannel has both 1:1 and group chat, and an optional second inbox for message requests.
P.S. Tap on the "toggle" triangle to see answers
🎬 Getting Started
What is the Backchannel?
Backchannel has both 1:1 and group chat, and an optional second inbox for message requests. This means you can use it to...
- Discuss your rooms in real-time. If you’re a speaker, you can use Backchannel to chat with your co-hosts, plan what question to ask next, or decide who to pull up from the audience. If you’re a listener, you can chat with your other friends in the audience any time you’re in a room. Just tap the airplane icon—or swipe left—to access the chat thread.
- Send and receive questions from the audience. If you’re a speaker, you can now take questions from people via text—and use that to decide who to call up from the audience. If you’re a listener, you can now submit questions, even if you’re not able to come up on stage.
- Say thanks to someone. Receive a payment? A good question? An invite to a great room? Use Backchannel to say thank you.
- Plan your events. A lot of work can go into planning a good event. Now you can use Backchannel to coordinate with your co-hosts, organize questions, decide on guests, and collaborate before you go live.
- Chat with your Clubhouse friends. When you meet people on Clubhouse, it’s nice to be able to keep the conversation going after the room ends. Now with Backchannel, you can. 🙂
Where can I find the Backchannel?
Tap on the airplane icon ✈️ on the bottom right of the app home screen and inside of rooms!
From there you will be able to see your messages. You can also create new private or group messages by tapping the pen and paper 📝 icon in the top right corner.
How do I send a new message?
- Tap the airplane icon ✈️ on the bottom right of the app
- Tap the pen and paper 📝 icon located in the top right corner of the Backchannel
- Here, you can search to find the person you're looking for to create a new thread! You can find the people you follow and the people who follow you in search.
You can also send messages by tapping the airplane icon on a user's profile. This icon will only be visible if the user has messages turned on to everyone, or if they follow you.
Who can message me?
People you follow can message you and their messages will appear in the main tab.
Messages from people you don't follow go to your Requests inbox. To see these messages, go to the Backchannel and tap on Requests at the bottom of the screen. From there, you can tap in to see the content, or not open them if you'd like.
The default is that anyone on Clubhouse can send you message requests. You can turn this setting off and only receive messages from people you follow by tapping the three dots at the top of the Backchannel.
Can I delete Backchannel messages?
You can't delete chats right now, but we plan to enable this in the future!
How do group messages work? Can I add a new person to the thread?
In a group message, anyone can message the group even if they don't follow each other, and everyone can view messages in the group.
Only the moderator of the group can add and remove other group members, but everyone always has the ability to leave the group themself. Currently, groups are limited to fifteen members.
Moderators of group messages cannot add people who have blocked them to groups. If you have been added to a group along with someone you block, you will see a warning that someone you block is in the thread with an option to remove yourself from the thread.
🔐 Privacy
Can I control who messages me?
By default, messages from people you don't follow will be separated into the "Requests" tab and require you to tap on them to view the content.
If you would no longer like to receive messages from a user you have an existing message thread with, you can block the user.
How do I report messages?
If you believe another person has violated the Community Guidelines, you can report them by tapping on the ellipses at the top of the chat and tapping "Report". You can also report messages by tapping and holding on a specific message and selecting "Report".
