It seems as though every year a new app is introduced with the hopes of overpowering Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and Snapchat. With a changing society, we have seen these familiar apps that we've known for years now trying to keep up with the change that we desire, or perhaps not desire; Snapchat, you really got everyone in shambles with your new update still.
Within the past few days a new platform was introduced: Vero. As everyone started posting about it on their Instagram stories it obviously got a lot of interest from people. So, what exactly is all the hype about the new app?
Vero expresses that the purpose of the app is to build connections and social life, but without the clutter of media. The platform offers ways to connect over shared interests in a much cleaner way that current social apps, like Instagram, don't offer. You only see the posts you want by choosing what relates to you the most from sharing music, books, places, and more.
Not only does it satisfy the audience's content, but Vero offers privacy settings to control who can and can't see certain posts. With our society's "see now, buy now" obsession, Vero also includes in-app purchases to any content, like music, that you can find in your feed.
Oh, and did I mention that it's ad-free, too?
By the looks of this on the surface, Vero offers everything we as consumers could ask for, right? As people slowly started gaining more interest and asking questions, the downloads started, and people soon found the not-so-great things about this app. In fact, a movement on Twitter quickly spread with the hashtag #DeleteVero.
This tweet sums up what most came to find out about the founder of this too-good-to-be-true app:
The name Vero means truth, but how truthful is this app actually being? Problems with the CEO of the company, Ayman Hariri, started arising and became more apparent to the downloaders, such as those mentioned in the above tweet. After taking over his family's construction company, many problems arose, including unfair wages and a need for Saudi Arabian government to provide living and eating needs to workers.
This right here was enough to set consumers on fire.
As I myself also gained interest in the app by downloading it, it turns out that deleting your account is not so easy as making one. While looking for a 'delete' button, I soon came to realize that there isn't one. Rather than making the choice to delete an app I no longer want to take part in, I have to request to delete it, and be further notified until my request is granted.
Ummm, what?
So, while I realize that the app does include benefits, I can't help but outweigh them with the disadvantages. Is this app really worth investing my time into, or could it be a scam?
Regardless of the purpose of this app, do we need any more social media than we already have? As I saw the continuous hype about it I wondered if people were downloading it because they care about the content they see, or if they were downloading it because everyone else was. Many people are asking the same question, I've downloaded Vero, but now what?
