Claiming to be a true social network, but with a more “authentic” experience than Instagram and Facebook, Vero has grown like wildfire in the past few weeks. As one of the top downloaded apps on the App Store and Google Play, its interface claims to have social network improvements that many users have complained about on Instagram and Facebook platforms. First released in 2015, Vero’s recent popularity has been attributed to word of mouth among social media users, and the app has been crashing due to a sudden surge in users in the last week.
Some highlights of Vero include sharing books, movies, places, photos, and music, listening to music on the social media platform, and purchasing items with a single tap. Similar to the idea of Instagram, photographs and videos are the main means of posting, but many users also enjoy posting their new favorite songs or experimental recipes.
The feature of sharing posts is based on self-inputted social circles of people such as close friends, friends, acquaintances, and general followers. Deciding to share a post with a particular circle provides users with a choice between privacy and publicity. Many celebrities and famous social media bloggers find this feature liberating. The features are highlighted on Vero’s website with the statement “a social network for anyone who loves anything enough to share it – and wants control over who they share it with. Just like we do in real life.”
One feature that Vero employs to stand out is its formatting of the social media feed. With no advertisements and content delivered strictly in chronological order, Vero claims to deliver a more natural social experience without algorithms and tricks. Because it is advertisement-free, Vero is subscription-based but has given the first million users access to Vero free for life. Once one million users were added to Vero, the free subscription was then extended to all new users until further notice because Vero was having technical issues, which caused the application to crash several times.
The founder of Vero, Ayman Hariri, is the son of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafic Hariri and was the deputy CEO of a Lebanese construction company. The construction company was then shut down in 2017 due to mismanagement of the company, but Hariri had left the company in 2013 to pursue other initiatives. Controversy surrounds the new social media platform because of its Russian ties. Many of Vero’s employees are of Russian citizenship, and users have taken note of this and the lack of gender diversity within the company. Some users have already tried to delete their Vero accounts.
Claiming to be the next social media network and strictly “celebrating people’s passions,” Vero has made quite the impression, but only time will tell if it is the social media platform to overthrow Facebook or Instagram or if it is “just a phase.”
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