Let's all start a Racket

Are you a Racketeer? At this point in time the chances are probably not but fear not, I'm about to introduce you to a cool new app that is joining the audio wars. Racket, a new Twitter-esqe audio app, is open for public beta right now. The company, founded by Austin Petersmith and Matthew Guay has an interesting approach, when compared to other audio-based social networks such as Clubhouse, Greenroom, Twitter Spaces, etc.

The way Racket works, which by the way, is web-only right now, is simple: they have created a dead-simple way to record an under 9 minute audio clip (a micro podcast, if you will) either by yourself or with guests. If you don't finish your thoughts in 9 minutes, the app will literally yeet you out of the recording studio. A nice touch! I love how this forces people to focus and stay on topic. What is that saying again? Ah yes, brevity is the soul of wit. That encapsulates Racket.

Once you record your Racket, you give it a title, can either upload your own photo as an image or select from a selection of royalty free images (to date, I've just used the royalty free images), and then that's it. You hit publish and it goes live on the site. You can easily tweet out your latest Racket to your followers too. But it's more than just the 9 minute cap on all audio recordings that I like. I love the way you reply to other people's Rackets, instead of typing a response, you record a voice message. It's so much more personal!

Here's what my profile page looks like:

Here's what the recording studio looks like (without any guests in it):

The simplicity of the recording studio is much appreciated. One big button to record and a chat to outline some notes or communicate behind the scenes with your guests. The chat log does not get saved or included with the released Racket.

Another cool feature of Racket: Volleys. Think of it as a way to further engage in the community or even find inspiration for a recording. I created a fun little one on whether you're a pineapple on pizza type of person or not? Feel free to add your own response or create a Racket off of it!

Racket also has a leaderboard to rank the top users weekly, monthly, and all-time! I've already made it onto the leaderboard for this week (currently sitting in the #14 spot!). Definitely an important feature for the app to keep people engaged, especially in the early days.

I'm still brand new to Racket and am currently experimenting with different kinds of content. If you have any ideas, feel free to let me know! Being that I'm still new to the community, I've been spending time getting to know other Racketeers. Yesterday I stumbled across, Neil Studd's feedback after creating daily Rackets for a month, I think he has some solid feedback for the team there. One other thing I'd like to see is the ability to easily embed a Racket on a website (such as this one!) so people could listen directly on-site which would also increase reach.

Right now I'm loving this app – sorry, website. The fact that it's web-only has a charming Web 2.0 vibe to it, which I totally Digg (see what I did there?). That being said, while Racket is currently only web-based, the team is hiring for three new roles right now: iOS developer, front-end engineer, and a technical growth lead. If you or anyone you know fits the bill, check out the tweet below:

App or no app, I'd recommend you give Racket a try. It may take a little getting used to but to be honest, I feel like all my Clubhouse usage has primed me for it. It's always good to flex your vocal cords!

If you like what we're doing here at BestTechie, please consider a BestTechie Plus membership option to show your support and get even more value (including gaining access to the BestTechie Discord)! And big thanks to Erin for introducing me to Racket!