Discerning social media users have made no secret of their dissatisfaction with the state of today’s top apps. Young people are shunning Facebook, Snapchat’s re-design has been met with mixed reviews, and Instagram’s non-consecutive timeline is the subject of scrutiny. Rising through the social media muck is Vero, a platform that seemingly combines the best parts of other apps, while shedding the restrictions and algorithms that have Zuckerberg and company under attack.
“Vero, which also means truth, was created based on the premise that social platforms should truly reflect and enable how we engage in the real world,” a Vero representative told Built In NYC. “Recognizing the false sense of connection created by traditional social media, Vero was designed to allow users to be their authentic selves.”
On Vero, sharing this authentic self takes the shape of many familiar social media apps: sharing photos, videos, and messages with a network of connections. There are, however, some compelling tweaks that make Vero utterly one of a kind.
Vero was created based on the premise that social platforms should truly reflect and enable how we engage in the real world."
When one adds a connection on Vero, they are given the ability to rank that person as a close friend, friend or acquaintance. When sharing a post, a Vero user chooses which of these groups can view their content. So when you’re sharing that professional-looking headshot, you can leave it for all the world to see, and when your rowdy birthday party pictures come in, you can restrict viewing to close friends only.
Another critical feature of Vero is the fact that it shows all content in the order it was posted. Instagram and Facebook have both been criticized for their algorithms, which push certain types of content to the top of one’s feed, regardless of whether the content is days old.
“Vero was designed to truly be a social network that celebrates people’s passions without the placement of ads or use of algorithms, bots or data mining.”
Though Vero debuted back in 2015, it has just recently surged in popularity. The app is presently climbing the Apple App Store and Google Play charts, and has accumulated hundreds of thousands of downloads in a matter of days.
Vero was designed to truly be a social network [...] without the placement of ads or use of algorithms, bots or data mining.”
Such a surge of traffic (the app officially has more than one million registered users, according to its website) has caused hiccups in the speed and functionality of the platform, but it has done little to slow Vero’s ambitions.
“With the large wave of new users joining, Vero is currently focused on ensuring the app is available for everyone,” said a representative. “Vero will continue to create interesting and above all authentic activations with creatives across multiple communities from film, music, photography, comics and more.”
While some skeptics wonder if Vero is but another passing fad (remember Ello?), it offers its users a unique relief from social media stress that could leave other major players in the sphere taking note.
