"Get Out of the Bubble!" The column by Tijen Onaran

Clubhouse does indeed combine many of the advantages of other forms of digital communication and takes them to a new level. This is not only what makes Clubhouse so appealing, but also presents a great opportunity. However, my initial experiences with the new social app show that the opportunities associated with this new form of communication are currently being underutilized. A plea for diversity of perspectives.

Why do we share ideas?

As is well known, Clubhouse has rooms where people discuss specific topics via live podcasts. You can participate in discussions or just listen. I’ve noticed that right now, many people on Clubhouse are connecting with the same people they already interact with through other channels, and they often talk exclusively about topics they’d discuss anyway. This neither expands their network nor introduces new perspectives into their thinking.Yet there is immense potential in the exchange of knowledge and opinions. Personally, I learn a great deal from listening. Critically examining and questioning one’s own views, as well as hearing and understanding new perspectives, is what truly constitutes Clubhouse’s innovative potential. Anyone who doesn’t use the diversity of voices and rooms on Clubhouse to reflect on and broaden their own perspectives is, at the end of the day, failing to take advantage of the opportunity this new medium offers.

Step Outside Your Own Bubble

The risk of getting stuck in one’s own filter bubble affects all social media platforms equally. This makes it all the more important to step outside your bubble regularly, be open to other perspectives, and broaden your horizons. In fact, Clubhouse is an ideal place to do just that. For many topics, for example, there are international rooms where people from different cultural and social backgrounds engage in conversation. Other rooms offer access to people with completely different experiences and life realities. Out of curiosity and interest in a way of life I hadn’t encountered before, I learned in the «Mindset of a Billionaire» room how billionaires develop new ideas.

Diversity is reflected in a variety of perspectives

Diversity is the key to innovation and new ideas. But what can each of us do to embrace diversity more fully? One simple way is to foster a diversity of perspectives. We can do this by stepping outside our own bubble time and again and incorporating other perspectives into our ideas and ways of thinking. This is the only way to continually examine and broaden our own views and ways of thinking.
A diversity of perspectives creates the conditions for innovation and provides the space for change and new ideas—but this can only happen if we are open to other perspectives.

Tijen Onaran writes columns for m&k. She is the CEO of Global Digital Women, author of the *Spiegel* bestseller *«Only those who are visible are taken seriously» and was named one of the ten most influential people on LinkedIn in 2020. Her focus areas: diversity and inclusion.