All you need to know about Vero

All you need to know about Vero
The day after International Women’s Day, I began writing this blog about Vero – the social media app and ‘new Instagram’ that everyone should apparently download. What’s ironic is that, of the 20 employees listed on Vero’s website, only one is a woman. “Our intention is really to create an online social network that mimics the greatest social network that exists, which is the one that exists between people, our responsibility as designers and developers is to have technology be a tool for people -- to have it enhance their life experiences and not to detract from them,” says the app’s co-founder. Meanwhile, the Vero Manifesto reads, “We created a social network that lets you be yourself, hence the name Vero. Meaning truth.”

What is Vero?

“Less social media, more social life. Behave online as you do offline.”

Vero is a social media app that allows users to connect, share pictures, videos, direct messages, their location, what they’re watching, and status updates with their friends and family. Sound familiar? This is because these are all things you can do on the likes of Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Vero was founded in 2013 and first launched in 2015. Despite not doing so well when it first launched, it has arrived in 2018 with a bang. But, why the sudden surge in popularity and coverage? Many bloggers, reality stars and celebrities are against social media algorithms and to combat them, actively encourage their followers to turn on post notifications for their content. Instagram’s post notifications launched in March 2016. Having noticed this so-called gap in the market, Ayman Hariri developed Vero – an “ad and algorithm free social media network”. Vero had seemingly answered the needs of the many by providing a feed that consists of just the posts they want to see. No algorithm. No data mining. No ads. Its growing popularity has led some people to label Vero as the “new Instagram”, and many have been attracted to the site because of its ad-free newsfeed and the fact that the first million accounts to sign up were free. The app has positioned itself as a different kind of social network, one designed in response to the ways in which existing platforms have allegedly made people unsociable. According to the company’s stats, Vero has grown from less than 1 million registered users to nearly 3 million over the past several days.

What makes Vero different?

Have you found yourself fed up with the way Facebook and Instagram have evolved? There are three big differences between the big social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter and what Vero is offering – the absence of "trending" algorithms, for example, means you see posts in a chronological order. Unlike Instagram, Vero allows brands, companies, and charitable organisations to have an account with website links, enabling them to sell directly to users. However, it’s important to remember that – because of the lack of paid content and algorithms - you will only ever see these posts if you choose to follow those accounts. Vero also gives you the option of privately setting the friends you connect with into three categories — acquaintances, friends, and close friends — you control who sees the content you post. How will Vero survive without ads, you ask? Eventually, Hariri and his team will introduce a paid subscription in order to maintain revenue. So far, you may be thinking: “Finally, a social network with no ads or spammy content - how brilliant!” However, it’s hard to believe Vero will stick around because of this very reason. Without ads and algorithms, the platform will struggle to make the same profits as the likes of Facebook and Twitter, and with small revenues, the user’s experience will surely suffer.

What do you think about Vero?

Social media algorithms are constantly changing, which can be a source of frustration for brands and businesses. However, there are plenty of articles online that cover how to respond to algorithm updates and declining organic reach. For now, it remains to be seen whether Vero will, in fact, be “the new Instagram”, or potentially something even bigger and more popular. There have been plenty of social media platforms that have perished, having never fulfilled their initial potential or preserved that initial buzz and anticipation following their launch. MySpace, Bebo, Friendster… the social media graveyard is forever growing, but there is always room for one more. Vero’s short-lived place at the top may be coming to a premature end already after many users began calling for the app to be deleted due to shady information raised about its founder, Ayman Hariri. After news broke about Hariri’s previous misdemeanours, including not paying his 9,000 employees at a construction firm he once owned, users began calling for everyone to delete the app. The hashtag #DeleteVero was even trending at one point. Good or bad, we would love to hear your thoughts and questions about Vero! Whether you’re a marketing manager, business owner, content creator or social media user, email hello@knaptonwright.co.uk, call 01652 638290, or get in touch via Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn!
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