The other night, I was catching up on Instagram stories –– much like catching up on the news at the end of the day. I noticed a lot of bloggers I follow were posting screenshots of their usernames on a new app called Vero.
My curiosity was piqued, to say the least. I researched for about 20 minutes before finally deciding to download the app. The app stated that the first one million people to download it would receive the app and all its features for free for life. Wanting to make sure I got this offer, I downloaded it. There was a little part of me that also wanted to be involved in this, just in case it became the next big thing.
Here’s an overview of Vero in case you haven’t heard of it or don’t feel like researching: this isn’t a typical photo or video sharing type of social media. It isn’t even a text-heavy social network like LinkedIn or Facebook. It’s pretty much all of them combined. You can share several forms of media such as photos, links, music you’re listening to and books you’re reading. The app organizes your media and shares them on your account as “collections.” Vero refers to these collections as “your own personal library of recommendations and passions.”
Vero claims they are different from most social media and sharing platforms. There are no ads and no fancy algorithms to worry about (we’re looking at you Instagram). Pretty simple right?
Well, I tried it out. It’s a pretty easy interface to figure out. Sharing is pretty simple.
But here’s where it gets interesting.
You have four different categories of followers. You can connect with people and mark them as close friends, friends, acquaintances or simply followers. They won’t know what you mark them as (or so I’d like to believe) and you can share your content with some or all of the categories of followers.
According to Vero’s official website, due to the large demand and interruptions in the app, they are extending their “free for life” offer and haven’t given word on when subscriptions begin.
So, should you hop on the Vero train? According to Time.com’s article, Vero launched in 2015 and only had about 150,000 users. Then, all of a sudden in February, they had over three million users –– an overnight success it seems. In the article, it states that people are drawn to Vero not only because of the free for life offer (who doesn’t want to be one of the first to master and try out this app with all of its bell and whistles for free), but because it entices annoyed Instagram users and disgruntled Facebook users who miss the days of chronological timelines.
Before you download, consider Time’s two major drawbacks with Vero. First, the founder of Vero is a Lebanese billionaire who is tied to his family’s construction business that reportedly didn’t pay 31,000 of its employees. Now there is concern that funding for this social media network is tied to an inhumane treatment of employees. The second point Time states is that Vero’s user agreement is confusing to understand. They took a closer look and realized their agreement mimics Facebook and Instagram’s user agreements.
So, it’s up to you to decide whether or not Vero is worth the download. Personally, I downloaded it in the event it’s the next Instagram — I guess we’ll find out soon.