The Social Media App Rivalling Instagram & Facebook

Why is Vero so popular?

Although Vero was created in 2015, the latest wave of Instagram, Facebook and Twitter updates have seriously annoyed users, and people are looking for an alternative. In fact, over 1m new users have joined Vero over the past week.

Unlike these other social media sites and apps, Vero has absolutely no ads and will remain that way forever, according to its creators. It also doesn’t sort posts algorithmically, meaning you can see your friends posts in chronological order, just like the good old days of Insta.

How does it work?

When you join Vero, you sign up with your name, email and phone number – there are no usernames. Along with photos, you can also share text, links and recommendations for, music, TV, films, books and places – Sort of like Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and Spotify rolled into one.

There’s a difference between friends and followers on the app too. You can follow hashtags and brands, and have the option to sort your network of friends into different tiers (are you diamond-level ‘close friends’ or handshake-icon ‘acquaintances’?). When you post a photo, for example, you can decide which group of friends see it.

Are there any downsides?

Users can download currently Vero for free, but the company says it will eventually charge a small subscription fee for new users in order to keep the app ad-free forever. It’s not been disclosed when this fee will start being rolled out and Vero hasn’t released any info on how much it might cost.

Annoyingly, due to the huge and unexpected surge in popularity, the app is experiencing near-constant service errors and technical trouble at the moment, but creators say this will be worked out soon.

The bottom line…

Whether Vero will really take over from Instagram and Facebook is yet to be seen – it’s the latest in a long line of would-be successors to the social media throne that quickly faded into obscurity (Ello, Mastodon and Peach to name a few).

It’s unlikely a start-up will actually usurp Facebook’s 500 billion dollar empire any time soon, but perhaps its initial success will make the social media giants reconsider the unpopular changes to its apps and websites.

And as for whether you should sign up or not? Well, it is still free, so you might as well try it out if you’re in the camp of people whose Instagram and Facebook are testing their patience.
 
For more information, visit Vero.co