Is Vero Social Media Perfect for Artists? 

Thanks for the helpful feedback 🍻

I really appreciate that! Obviously I share in your excitement, it's about time for something new and useful in social media. Thanks for the kind words :)

It has been getting better through the week, definitely usable now. Hope it gets even better and stays true to the ad/algorithm free model!

Haha thanks :)

Marko Russell thanks

Yes! The game we play to put ourselves out there right now can be exhausting

Absolutely, it was also the best place to search for things happening right now but anymore even that is flooded. And you don’t dare use it for news anymore, people over-politicized everything already and used that relevant hashtag you looked up as a subversive way to target you with their anger and disfunction haha. Yeah ok I think it’s safe to say I’m jaded about Twitter 😆

Hey, thanks! That's exactly what I go for :).

Vinny Le Pes have you read about this? www.thedailybeast.com/as-vero-blows-up-backlash-builds-against-shady-social-app kind of makes me question the app now

I have been hearing about some of it, not sure what to make of it yet. Seems like there's a douchebag billionaire behind everything. I don't really want to address the controversy and attract that kind of attention here in a video, but I did put down some of my thoughts if you look at my long reply to Iain Dowling today. I'll keep an eye on things and if I feel like it becomes more than drama and controversy, I'll address it. For now it looks like an even trade on some things (shitty billionaire founder, same rights/privacy agreements) and a step in the right direction in others. I really REALLY want to stop being the product and start being the consumer, read up on Zuckerberg's transgressions and the things they have been doing for year. Go listen to some talks or interviews with Zeynep Tufecki to see why the ad model is so toxic and nefarious. I went into a lot more detail in reply to Iain so go check it out and let me know what you think. I certainly don't want to lead anyone astray, but as of now it feels like a step in the right direction. Now if Vero creates a precedent and a more benevolent organization of people prop up a new platform that follows the same or similar model, you can bet I'll be all over that :). Is Vero perfect? Far from it. But I still think it's better than what we have now in the most important ways. And if someone good pops up who is not the lesser of two evils, they will have my support.

Thanks, Sebastian!

Thanks! I've been loving it too :)

Yes, only a smartphone app. I have no idea if they will roll it out for desktops one day but I do know they mention tablets in their materials so I think a tablet version is perhaps coming.

Thank you, Dania! Hope you like it over there ☺️

Totally! I spent my first many hours as a member unable to post and then it was running smoothly and now today I think they are getting another surge of users. I've been on the other side of things like this and I'm sure they are working their butts off to get it running smoothly! I also hope this app does well in the long term :)

No problem! There is a photo content type that you can use to share any kind of image, including your digital artwork. Hope that helps :)

Yeah, I would personally post to both until we know if Vero is taking off. Since there is only one user type, I'd create a new user for the band separate from my personal account and cross post. They could possibly add tools for 'business' accounts in the future, like an upgrade with analytics or special content types...I wouldn't rule it out. There is a distinct advantage to being a 'first mover' on a new platform so if you are active while it's small and you are consistent (hashtags and anything else for discoverability helps) your chances are higher at reaching people and if you can build a buzz there it will grow with the platform. I don't know what kind of band it is, but let's pretend you're in a psychedelic rock band...well, there probably isn't much competition yet for people searching specific hashtags for that type of music so you can establish a following more easily by being the only available content while the platform is small. Then as it grows you will have already established your audience to grow alongside it. And if it fails, you didn't lose too much for trying. Hope that helps! Cheers! 🍻

I had a lot of hope for Google Plus, it's really a better platform than it's competition (or at least it was for a time). I definitely know what you mean though, Tumblr especially. Vero takes me back to when there were more options emerging and the goal wasn't yet dominated by advertising. It was a lot more fun, even though by today's standards a lot of those platforms sucked. At least you got in free while it was available! Maybe come back in a bit when they work out their backend issues, they clearly didn't see this spike coming (or at least didn't prepare correctly). They aren't new, after all...not sure if it was a marketing push or a random viral trend but they blew up over the weekend. I first heard about them last year and though cool concept, too bad no one's on there. Then Saturday it was dominating my Instagram stories feed.

I wasn't a fan of Google plus or Tumblr. Google plus they managed to mess up the implementation turning it into a confusing mess. Tumblr, is like Twitter for me, I know millions of people really like it, but I just don't get how they make sense of any of it. I have accounts on both but have pretty much thrown my hands in the air and given up on them. Vero must've been featured somewhere really popular over the weekend because suddenly people in my own network are signing on. First I heard about it was your video. They definitely weren't prepared for the spike in sign ups. The Android app keeps freezing on me and/or is buggy. Hopefully they can sort it out quickly.

I agree that G+ flopped hard when they did the RU-vid integration, and I'm pretty sure they only did that in an attempt to revive it as it failed. What I liked were the people there, and I still do. It attracted a lot more people in its groups and the circles idea was solid. I still interact in a couple groups there but don't bother with it much beyond that. I have to totally agree about Tumblr. I know people are in love with it but I don't even like browsing it. A little too stream of consciousness and random for me. Nothing ever piqued my interest enough to cause me to go learn to use it correctly, and it always felt like a walled garden in some weird way.

Yes, that RU-vid integration with G+ was a terrible idea all round. I still post to G+ but I have no real active network there. I have been taking a closer look at Tumblr to compare it to Vero. They really are very close but Tumblr seems to stop short of allowing people to actually connect. It seems more about connecting people to content than people to people. Anyhow, congrats on the attention this video is getting. Great example of the right video at the right time, in your style, that I imagine didn't take you too long to make.

Thanks! Very true, I actually knocked this one out in a day and it's not too bad after all. It certainly brought a lot of new and great people around!

Personally I'm not that worried at all. We've been through this with every platform so far that I can recall, and it always ended up being a lot of commotion and drama over nothing. You grant every social media platform those same permissions, because they have to have the rights to process and distribute your images on the platform and potentially when showing the platform in their own marketing because user content would be there as well. The moment they cross the line and sell images or something similarly shady, it would be a huge story and I think people would dump them quickly, and so there really isn't any incentive for them to try to make a couple bucks here and there on your photos and there is a HUGE incentive not to, which is people would lose all trust. And they are trying to build a brand around honesty, transparency...trust, basically. I just don't see it happening. I haven't read up on the privacy policy, but again I'm going to recall going through this before with Facebook and other platforms. Also I should note I'm not a lawyer or anything like that, so if there's something nefarious I'm missing it went right over my head...but every time something new happens and there is a buzz, there is incentive to find drama. I damn near doubled my views and gained a lot of new subscribers just by being one of the first to make a video about it on RU-vid. Imagine what would have happened if it were a controversial and dramatic video! Good thing I'm not interested in building that kind of audience, hahaha. I've also been hearing about the founder and this company he used to work in...and I keep hearing two stories. In one story he's the evil, selfish billionaire who won't pay his staff since the company went under. Or if you read another story, he's risking it all to make something he believes in and was actually held hostage and forced to resign from that company. I don't know what really happened but it's clearly already been politicized, polarized and popularized. The truth is probably somewhere in between. That's a long answer but I've been thinking about this a lot. I don't want to promote people join anything bad. I do see some negatives, but I keep thinking we have all that now. Facebook/Instagram have rights to your images, and those rights extend past when you leave the platform. And if it's an evil billionaire we're worried about, Mark Zuckerberg proudly proclaimed privacy is dead while buying the houses around his house to remodel them so there were no views of his own. Go listen to him talk or look into his controversies and you'll see we can't seem to get away from a douchebag billionaire no matter where we turn. And this same guy, who tries to argue that privacy is an outdated concept, privately sells some VERY personal data about us as the VERY BUSINESS MODEL. They have been caught manipulating bipolar people, trying to detect their manic swings to market to them when they are ripe to buy. Sniffing out depression and lack of self-esteem and using that to sell products to people looking for answers. Testing making the algorithm more positive and more negative to track it's effect on people's emotions, without their consent or knowledge. Personally, I'd rather pay than be the product. If you haven't heard about any of this, go look into Zeynep Tufecki because she has done her homework, puts it more elegantly, and has been warning everyone about this for years. She has some great interviews and TED talks floating around out there. But what I am hopeful about is that if Vero takes off it will send a strong message. The old platforms will have to clean up their act in regards to using people as products and destroying privacy and allowing waves of propaganda to literally polarize opinion in our country. Vero might not be the answer, but I'll take any step in the right direction. Moving away from the advertising model, in my opinion, is the most important first step because it's the breeding ground from which all this negativity is growing. If we would all fork out $1 a month and stop trying to get everything for free, we are left with an honest transaction and WE are the consumer, not the product. Keep in mind that all social media platforms cater to their consumers, not their users, because the consumers pay the bills. On Facebook and Instagram, the consumers include some really nefarious people paying to have an impact on your mind and habits--both in a market-pattern approach, to sell us things, but also in such ways as swaying elections and building controversy to divide people and weaken our society overall. Sorry for the novel, I'm starting to think I should have just made this a video at this point, haha. But like I said, I don't want to attract drama. I'm not here for attention, I'm trying to find people who love what I love and can learn something from me :).

I was thinking about this, as a photographer , if you put your photographers credit on your work, they can't do anything but free advertising for you, or NOT use it since you blasted your Logo etc on the image.

Sounds like a conundrum! I deleted Facebook a few weeks ago so I wouldn't check it unless I planned to but I can't tell you what's right for you. I certainly wouldn't go "all in" on Vero until it's stable, but downloading and getting in early is still free I think, if that's a possibility for you :). That is to suggest: delete something, download and sign up to secure a free spot, then delete Vero and put back the other app...just an option if you want to avoid the subscription fee that will exist in the future

You are right about that, but it's new to me--does that count? :P I see what you mean, I doubt it dies but the press loves controversy and the top headline is shifting to their inability to handle the volume right now. I'm being patient with them because I've launched websites and apps before and it's a nightmare even when you know it's coming and do everything you're supposed to do to prepare. As I mentioned in another comment, I can't imagine what a big 'launch' level influx of users coming in is like when you don't know it's coming!

I only know a few people there myself, but there are a lot of photographers and artists to check out on there :)

Prime comment.

Not that I’m aware of, but I don’t post often enough on Instagram to have much insight on that. I also don’t do the pro account with metrics because when I made a page on Facebook it became pay to play and I know this could potentially happen on Instagram as well. So to be honest I really don’t know how I’m doing over there or what fluctuates and why.

Because I heard that as of 2018, they've made a policy that All users are only allowed to use 5 hashtags, but I've seen alot of people, including artists, were using more than that. I'm not really sure if Vero ever has that Shadow Ban thing but Instagram does.

Who made that 5 hashtag policy, Instagram or Vero? I don’t think that either have done that and can’t find any announcements about it, anyway. I can’t be much help there. What I can say is that Instagram has added a “don’t show for this hashtag” flag that other users can use to teach the algorithm what is relevant. So if other users deem someone’s hashtags are spammy or just not relevant for that tag, then that user might see a decline as the algorithm has more data saying “this is not relevant”, if that makes sense. So I don’t know how they actually do it and when they shadow ban, but I do know they have a relevancy data source provided by other users so it would make the most sense that it’s what is driving relevance ratings in particular hashtags. When they decide a user should be excluded from a hashtag is anyone’s guess outside Instagram. As for a limit, it seems to be as of now 30 for Instagram and Vero both. However, I personally would welcome a lower number because it could potentially force users to consider which hashtags were more relevant when they post. I know if you look at the top hashtags on either platform, there is a lot of abuse going on. People seem to be putting the top tags on everything which is counterproductive because it increases your competition. The pool gets bigger and your chances of being seen get smaller. So my advice on either platform would be to avoid top hashtags and find the relevant ones. You’ll be a big fish in a small pond that way and reach an audience more likely to actually care about your posts 🤘

Yes!

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I agree

I found and followed you, btw!

I still use it and like it, they just rolled out some updates. To be honest though, I haven’t been very active on any platform lately. The only real change I wish I’d see on Vero is more people coming over from Instagram haha. Its a great platform it’s just missing people, like many social media alternatives.

@@VinnyLePes do you still use Instagram still?

@@UnbrandedLifestyle I do still use Instagram, since most people I need to interact with are on there, but I feel the right amount of dirty about supporting a Facebook product haha. I’m also tired of them changing the UI to copy whatever competing app is popular that year. I have abandoned Facebook though. I have to draw the line somewhere 🤣. The new Vero release is still heading in the right direction for me. More about promoting content and sharing your taste and less about making you a product. I’m hoping when another round of people get tired of the status quo that another bandwagon will move over or at least give it a try. I still think it’s a better platform for artists, and due to privacy and data collection concerns with Facebook, I feel it’s a better platform for society as well.

@@VinnyLePes I think I know how you feel! I’m giving Vero a try and can’t help but to think that I’ll still need my Instagram for the connections. Thank you for your insights!! You’re doing a great thing with your channel, keep going!

Oh, I didn't realize they passed a million already! I wonder how much a subscription will be. I know it's easy for me to say since I got in before the bar, but if the price is reasonable I would personally find it worth paying a little for. The ad model is a cancer and I love that I can support artists these days with things like Patreon. I'm glad you are digging my videos, I'll be pushing hard this year to focus and produce more. I'll be around! Thanks for the encouragement :).

Vinny Le Pes oh they actually didn't pass it! I thought they did since a hype is being made about it and I'm from Serbia so stuff like this mostly gets talked about too late, still it's a nice price, it says it's about 99¢ a month and stuff like this should be supported, the ads have taken over pretty much, though they can be nice since they made me not use social media as much because of them, especially the fact that my searches are being tracked, it's just creepy and invasive I'm sorry if I spelled something wrong or made the order of the words wrong, I'm still learning English

Haha you’re cool, no worries on the English I read you just fine. I do agree the positive side of the ad-driven mess was that it got a lot of us back to reality. I’m hoping this platform stays around, I like the idea of posting in one place but never trusted centralization from companies that basically surveil their users. Now let’s hope they work the bugs out because I want them to succeed!

Vinny Le Pes well it is in just beta stages, with more work it will be fine A while ago I found another ad-free site, ello, it's for artists, you can check that one out if you want

Yeah, they will pull through. I used to work as a designer/developer/art director and I've been through a lot of launches of new websites and applications--I know it's a stressful mess, everyone works long hours in the "war room" through the night fixing bugs and replying to the buzz and handling the admin surge--and that's when they know it's coming and prepare for madness! I think this viral explosion happened unexpectedly from what I've read so far (not sure). I can only imagine a launch situation without any warning would test everyone's limits :). Ello looks promising as well, I downloaded it but haven't done anything past signing up so far. I will definitely check it out and see for myself what it's all about! I'm glad to see this pushback lately of apps and services that make things more honest and direct. I hope this will set a trend for the next decade, because the last one took us pretty far into a weird place.

Yeah, it's a waiting game right now for sure :). In the past couple days it has been working and not working in waves. Hit me up once you're over there. Cheers!

Oh, man! Yeah it's a mess today. I hope they get it together and not lose this opportunity! I'm tired of being the product!

Excited to see how it all plays out! When it's running smoothly it's a great experience so far, and it's still all charged up with the positive early adopters so everyone is so friendly. I'm sure if it's a hit that could change but I'll be sticking it out to see either way.

Vinny Le Pes oh me too. The tag system I need to get used to. Keywords that would normally have tags on IG, don’t on Vero lol

That's interesting, so far I've been able to add every tag I've tried. Either I simply haven't tried one that isn't on there, or you're experiencing a bug maybe? I can't see why they would restrict tags, that's weird

Vinny Le Pes ya it’s just something I need to look into more I guess :)

🤘

:)

You got it!

I guess it depends on your needs. It would replace most of what Facebook and Instagram provide, except the live videos and stories part. You can share music and photos and videos and pictures with a really nice feed format, which is a bonus. I’d recommend you try it out and compare, if nothing else for promotional reasons you’d be a bigger fish in a smaller pond and the community in Vero has been really excited and interactive.

🤘

I totally agree, I think it would have a great desktop experience even if they just ported it over for starters and made the design layer responsive.

Nice!

Thanks!

Ha! My last name is french but that's about as much french as I know, unfortunately ;P