First of all, lets start with this disclaimer. If you can’t be bothered to keep up with yet another social media app then there’s no need to find out more about Vero. Because that’s exactly what it is, but apparently ‘with a twist’.
Vero is the latest social media platform that claims to be ad-free and algorithm-averse. Imagine a social media world where you could roam in peace and not be interrupted with ads, a world where you can only see who or what you want to see and not miss out on anything. And if you are one of the first million people to sign up, its free, for life. If you are late to the game then you will need to pay for their annual subscription, but sources are claiming this will only amount to a few dollars. (Still the question remains what each individual considers the term ‘a few dollars’ as the amount is still unknown).
Vero state on their website that their business stands for “subscription-base only…making our users our customers, not advertisers”. I personally like the sound of that. Lately it seems advertising or paid posts are dominating all social feeds, creating a virtual ad hub which exhausts your feed when trying to search for something in particular that you may have once briefly seen, or wanting to check recent events since you’ve been absent from your account. (In saying all that however, I may be guilty of clicking on a few of said ads and perhaps now sporting the recently popular neoprene bag…).
What I do like hearing about Vero, meaning “truth” in Italian, is the fact that it focusses purely on delivering a service that you can control. The user can choose what they want to see, what they want to share and who they want to share it with. It sounds like a great way of inventing something same same but different, looking at social media from a completely different angle. Instead of posting your status you can add things like movies, tv, music, locations, photos, even plain ol’ links if you want to. You can also choose to see what music or films your friends are talking about. However if your mate Brian keeps recommending terrible tv choices then you can easily unfollow that particular feed. The whole algorithm-averse approach to advertising is non-invasive which in these days is refreshing.
Vero’s interface design is also nice, clean and easy to use, even if their brandmark does remind me a little of the old Village Cinemas logo. It will be interesting to see how Vero operates solely as a subscription based business. Perhaps we are starting to see a new trend in social apps where they put the user first, not advertisers. Or perhaps it won’t be long before advertisers find a way to infiltrate Vero and it will end up being just another social media app that doesn’t stand apart from the crowd, soon to be forgotten.
Of course right now I am the only person I know on Vero, so my social feed is a little on the quiet side, however I like to think that perhaps this might be a nice change of pace of actually seeing what I want to see, rather than being told what to see. I do like when businesses approach things from a completely different angle and so far this has peaked my interest, I look forward to seeing how it plays out. Watch this space.
Renée Blakeley
Senior Finished Artist / Studio Co-ordinator
Images courtesy of vero.co