I’ve stopped using Facebook for some years, and I consciously avoid using other social media to prevent myself from getting hooked on the addiction of dopamine hit. This also helps me to use my time more wisely on things that really matter.

About one month ago, a friend introduced me to an app called Clubhouse. I had heard it before, but at that time, it was joining by invitation, and to me, it’s just another social media, so I wasn’t interested in giving it a try. But this time, the friend told me that it’s a great platform to practice English, since there are many native speakers open rooms to chat with people all around the world, and some of them even provide useful information for further English learning. Because of that, I finally decided to give it a shot.

So, like most of the social medias, users are required to create a bio so people can know you better simply by clicking your photo. Then the adventure starts whenever I enter to the rooms titled “English", “English Practice", “English Conversation", and so on. I was like an avaricious reader in a giant library, trying to grab every books that I found interesting. (meaning, trying to join every club that’s related to practicing English.)

Then, after two weeks, after joining certain rooms on a daily basis and after chatting with certain people on and off, something similar to “friendships" formed. Slowly, I found myself trying to arrange my timetable around the room’s schedules so I could be up there with people with whom I felt familiar and safe to chat with. But the truth is, I barely know them, other than the words on their bio, the photos that normally do not show their real faces, and the voices they uttered. That also led me to alter my sleeping schedule a little bit in order to join some rooms that normally open late at night in my time zone but daytime in other time zones.

Occasionally, people would ask for one-on-one talk, usually after some messages back and forth. That’s why I feel that Clubhouse is a bit more dangerous than other social media, like Facebook or IG. Emotions can be expressed by voices, and that provides room for developing a sense of intimacy. Plus, the exchange of opinions and ideas and the conversations don’t always stick to the initial intention of “practicing English". It’s like building relationships on the phone without seeing each other. And to me, it’s not a good sign, especially if all I want to do with this platform is just practice English, but the one on the other end wants more than that.

I’m happy that I am sensitive enough to be aware of this situation, and I would like to proactively harness myself on using this app too often. There are indeed so many people up there from every corner of the world who are dying to level up their English speaking skills for all kinds of reasons, and to them, whenever it’s possible to talk to someone who’s an English native speaker or close to English native speakers, they will try their best to grab the chances and talk to them. I understand that because I am one of them, but there are potential dangers to it, and I believe we’ll need to be very careful.

“Do not give the devil a foothold." (Ephesians 4:27)