Instagram is Dead. Use this Instead

Many people are disappointed with the latest trend in the Instagram algorithm. Instagram has shifted its prioritization focus to short form video content. It's basically taken a page out of TikTok's book, and nobody likes it. Why does nobody like it?

Essentially, your photo posts will be shown less often, to less of your followers. Ever since Instagram released Reels, they've been gradually increasing the pressure to use the feature, which is proving to be a big problem for anyone who was getting a decent amount of likes/interaction on previous posts. Photographers are, it seems, being hit the hardest here.

People are looking for ways to circumvent this pseudo-shadowban by posting single frame videos of just their photo, which means they are using the new feature but are still able to post their photos. It seems Instagram may have caught onto this now, though. Even many legitimate Reels pieces of content are still failing to be pushed by Instagram, with impressions dropping regardless of the content of the Reels. Every now and then some Reels may pop off, but it's still rare.

Many photographers and content creators (myself included) are adding another social media platform to their arsenal of digital presences. Where's that? Meet Vero:

Vero is a social media platform with many similarities to Instagram, as well as its own features. On Vero you can post links, introductions, photos, videos, a book you've been reading - all kinds of stuff. In addition to this, Vero allows you to set various levels of followers. What does that mean?

Well, on Vero, you have the option for each of your posts to be seen by only your close friends, your friends, your acquaintances, and your followers. This mean that there are multiple levels of accessibility to your posts, depending on who you want to be able to see what. This might sound a bit complicated at first, but Vero has a very simplified and easy-to-learn interface, so there's no need to worry about overly-complex functions.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=opbzS9Fl1ak

Vero also allows you to make calls and send private messages (Chats) to other users on the platform who allow for that access, such as your friends and close friends. While photographers seem to make up the bulk of the group who in this exodus from Instagram, Vero is more than just a photography app. With options to discuss and post TV shows, links to YouTube videos, and suggestions for apps and games, it truly is a community-oriented platform to discuss thoughts and various subjects with your niche or community.

With all the good comes all the bad, too. To be honest, there isn't much to complain about on Vero. At the time of writing, Vero is still currently in Beta, meaning all of its functions and quirks are not yet finalized. The main issues the app currently seems to be experiencing are some latency issues as far as lagging behind user selections, and a (relatively) small user database. The app has approximately 4.5 million accounts. While that is a huge number and proves the success of the app, it is still far off from the larger social media platforms such as Twitter with its 400 million users or Instagram with its 2 billion users. This makes it still a bit hard to connect with other people unless they're already famous and on the app, or you send someone a link to download it.

Another thing to keep in mind when it comes using Vero is that there is no explore page. This suggests that the only real way to find new content that you are interested in is through searching for hashtags and finding users that you already have an interest in following. This goes hand in hand with the fact that there is no business/sales aspect to it so far. This means that it is difficult to monetize this platform, which may be intentional given its aim at creating a wholesome, community-oriented platform.

Overall, the Vero app is a good app, and its attempts to create a community-oriented are not unnoticed. It's still early on in its development stage when compared to the other apps that are currently on top of the game. When it comes to organic outreach, it is purely through user intent, as there seems to not be a lot of algorithms to help growth on the platform.

The app is currently free to download and use, and, while this may change to a subscription feature in the future, the current users will be considered lifelong members and won't have to pay. Keep that in mind if you are looking to download this app but aren't sure if it's too early to do so!

What are your thoughts on the Vero app? Let me know in the comments below, and subscribe to your mailing list to never miss a blog post!

Thanks for reading!