Five need-to-know facts on Vero.
“Any new Social Network entering the game nowadays needs to offer something markedly unique. Vero doesn’t seem to.”
Each year, hundreds of Social Networking platforms are launched online, only to meet their demise just months later. Then you’ve got the instant successes – your Facebook, Twitter and YouTubes of the world. But recently, we’ve seen the rise of Vero, which is somewhere in between. It was launched back in 2015, but only recently made waves and is currently sitting in the top 10 downloaded apps for both App store and Google Play. But what’s it all about? Here are five things you need to know about Vero.
1. It’s free (for now).
Vero has been really open about the fact that at some point, they’ll start charging a subscription fee. After all, if they stick true to their ‘no ads’ policy, they’ve got to make money somehow. But as it stands, you can still get into Vero without paying a cent. They started out by promising their first one million users free Vero for life, which they’ve now extended as a way of apologising for some recent technical difficulties.
2. Vero means ‘truth’ in Italian.
Vero have tapped into the insight that people generally only share good stuff on Facebook and Instagram. The engagement shots, the 1st birthday parties and holidays by the pool sipping cocktails. Vero, on the other hand, want to be known as ‘true social media’. So they promote honesty and authenticity by encouraging users to share everything that’s going on in their life – the good, the bad and the ugly. Add to this their no ad policy and giving users more control around who sees what and they’re on the right track.
3. You can share six types of content.
Vero reckons the bulk of what people share fit into six different categories: images/videos, links, music, movie/TV, books and places. So they’ve used these as six key share points within the app. You also have a ‘collections’ area, which is essentially your own personal library of recommendations, moments and anything else you want to save for later.
4. Everything is in chronological order.
One issue people have with Facebook and Instagram is that their feeds are manipulated by an algorithm. So instead of things appearing to your newsfeed in the order that people post them, Facebook decides what you see and when you see it. Vero’s not into that. So everything appears in your Vero newsfeed and collections in chronological order. Likewise, your friends and family will see what you’ve shared, in the exact order you shared it. After all, that seems to make sense, right?
5. The verdict: it feels a bit same-same.
If you’re looking for something game changing, you might need to keep looking. Sure, it nails the broad concept of social media and arguably addresses some of the downfalls of Facebook and Instagram. But any new Social Network entering the game nowadays needs to offer something markedly unique, or solve a problem you didn’t know you even had yet. And unfortunately, Vero doesn’t seem to do either.