why i’m not on vero.

Listen. I get it early sneezers, I get it. I see the signs, I wonder if I should switch, then I read about it, then I ultimately put my phone down and walk away. A new way of connecting, a new chronological timeline, no ads, meaningful interactions. 

Barf. Put your fucking phone down and make a meaningful face to face connection. Hold your friend’s hand as she is telling you she is dreaming big, hug your loved ones to tell them they did a good job, drop off soup at your friend’s house who is sick. Those are meaningful interactions. Those are ad free, those are chronological, those are in real time. 

A while ago I quit twitter because 140 characters are not enough for me and my rants. Did save my usernames though. Deleted my LinkedIn account—even though as a new full-time freelancer everyone is telling me I am doing the wrong thing by not being there. I have but don’t use a FB business page, because I am just parking my name in case you are googling me, to verify that my funky name does have a real face behind it. I don’t use snapchat either, instagram is where I like to be and its stories are working just fine for me. Too many fucking channels take up too much fucking time to be too curated for too many strangers who don’t know how to pronounce your last name (may be a specific issue with me only). 

I don’t always love the instagram algorithm, the changes, the slight and gradual desensitization to what is acceptable, but I like and comment enough on things that I don’t miss that much and my top friends are pushed to my feed pretty frequently. If I realize I missed a thing from a friend, I will say, “just now seeing this, good job on that thing that you did!” I don’t feel bad about missing things. I don’t claim to know everything first, and I hope that if you have big news to share with me you will direct message me, email me, or text me, or plan to meet up with me. And if you don’t that’s ok, too. I realize that this network as a larger social net is fine for what it is and works well for me as a business tool. 

I also want to point out that the things we are digging collectively about vero are the very things instagram started out with (e.g. timeline, no ads). So please don’t be disappointed when a company that started two years ago changes totally in another two because they ran out of funds or cannot make up the costs of their biz just by posting your stories in chronological order sprinkled with butterfly wings and propped up by rainbows. 

Please do not insult any developer, designer, and business owner that your timeline and need for meaningful social interactions have to be ad free, built for free, used without subscription, created with all the ux/ui one can imagine (yes i read vero reviews in the app store *rolls eyes*) because you are such a unique person. Aka your online presence trumps others’ needs to make a comfortable life. The services, products, clothes, food and everything else you consume in your life come with a price tag. Why not a business that lets you rant online about how long your coffee line was this morning. Again, take soup to a sick friend. That’s chronological and real. 

So I am not on vero because—maybe I will be proved wrong and butterfly wings can carry you further than I think, maybe transparency online is the thing of the future—but I’m not on vero because I don’t need to find a new way to connect (I love the following I built and want to continue), because I don’t have more special or exclusive content to share (if I get excited—I share), and because I am already personal and biz and everything else in between on my feed.

You do you though: hop off instagram, start your new thing, I am just not joining you. Nothing against vero, just against this idea that a new social platform will solve the world’s problems. Humans interacting with or caring for each other in person, picking up trash in front of them, putting their shopping cart into its designated location, being kind and compassionate above all is what will get us started. In my opinion. So until vero loads faster, or that instagram dies, I will be here in my skeptical corner sipping on tea, minimizing my social channels to a few that make sense to me that I don’t mind getting lost in, or keeping up with. I’m going to keep trying to give my energy and time face to face to those whom I love the most, pay for the services I use and enjoy. (I realize I don’t pay for instagram, but I’m equating seeing ads as a payment.) 

Not here to encourage or discourage your social platform decisions, just telling you how I feel. I hope you find the channels that suit you most, but above of all, I hope you have the courage to reach out to me if you want to say something other than hit the like button. xoxo

I liked this article because it was in line with how I felt.