Are you tired of the pointless and challenging updates our social media applications are incorporating?  From Instagram changing the photo order to most popular than chronological and Snapchat switching up its format, some updates have forced users to stop interacting entirely. 

This week, a new contender is on the block: Vero. Originally released in 2015 with a 2.2 out of 5 rating on the App Store, it has recently resurfaced due to the combination of network effects and Instagram’s frustrating algorithmically-sorted feed. 

     An image-exchanging app where users can share pictures, texts, videos and pretty much any content that they want is an idea companies have been racing to perfect. , According to New York Media, the most recent contender shares characteristics of Instagram, without the algorithm, Youtube without the Paul Brothers, and twitter without the trolls. Unlike feeds that are displayed in chronological order, Vero offers the option to categorizes contacts as ‘close friends,’ ‘friends,’ or acquaintances;” this allows full control of who hears what about you. 

As for it’s name, the word “Vero” means truth in Esperanto, which is why they promote themselves to be an “authentic” social media platform. 

As Vero’s popularity has grown, it’s held onto the number one download in the Apple Store for a few days. Earlier this week, the Vero Labs Inc. gave the first one million users free access for life. After a million users, the plan to charge annually would substitute ad revenue. However, after a large wave of new users, surpassing one million people, they are encountering technical issues which are leaving a lot of customers with service interruptions. This has lead to their decision to make the Vero app free to all users.

What users can post on Vero is a lot more flexible than what Instagram permits on their site. Along with the photo, users can attach a link to books, movies, TV shows  

or places.

     With the high demand of the app came a load of backlash for Vero. Yahoo Finance wrote about its 48-hour success which quickly came crashing down.  Overwhelming traffic by first-adopting consumers caused network errors and unreachable servers.

     Ayman Hariri, Vero’s CEO,  and his tech-team are working to put the pieces together to allow the app’s high demand. After solving the issues, a subscription-based interface should be expected.

     Time magazine put out an article talking about the controversy surrounding Vero and Hariri. He was the deputy chairman of Saudi Oger, a construction company founded by his father. After workers accused Hariri of not paying them and leaving them stranded with little food, money, water or medical attention, the government shut down the company for “mismanagement.” 

     Putting aside his troubled past, Time Magazine and several others have pointed some conspiracy theories around Vero: the authenticity of Russian based developers With Russia’s attempts to use social media to influence the 2016 U.S. presidential election, people are questioning whether it is wise to trust this app.

     Vero is known for its authenticity, but is there any part of the truth that its developers are hiding from their users?