Blog

VSCO made its debut in 2011, and has been successful from the start. I discovered this app as a way to add cool filters to my pictures, and soon after it turned into one of my most used social media apps. According to Business Insider, “VSCO initially appealed to the best mobile photographers out there,” because of its editing tools and high quality. Today, scrolling through Instagram profiles you can easily find a VSCO link in the bio of an everyday photographer. This link brings you to that specific person’s page. Here you wlll find photos they have taken and shared, "Journals" they have created (a composite of photos usually relating to each other with a grouping title), and a tab of photos from other users called their "Collection" (which they have chosen to republish). Uniquely, VSCO contains a DSCO tool that lets you take a video in a slowly framed way that accentuates the subject. This feature is VSCO’s version of Boomerang on Instagram, displayed a little differently. DSCO is one of my favorite parts of VSCO and one of the main reasons I use the app. I love how easy it is to use and how professional and fun it makes your video look. 

VSCO has shaped itself into a interactive photo studio where you can share as much as you want. On VSCO there are no social rules of posting too much. If you want to post all of the cool pictures you took that day on vacation, feel free. VSCO is able to maintain an appealing aesthetic, artsy grid pattern, and carefree feel while not losing it’s professionalism. 

The big thing about VSCO is the way it sets itself apart from other social media platforms. VSCO contains many editing tools that can be found on the app ready to use before you publish a photo to your account. These tools range from unique filters, to adding visual effects, and cropping. VSCO is also well known for how it displays likes and republishes. These interactions can only be seen by the user who posted this photo. Joel Flory, a co founder of VSCO, explains, "We don't define success based upon numbers," and this is true. Likes and republishes are not counted up for you into numbers that matter too much on other social media accounts. Instead, they are listed name by name, and if you really wanted to individually count them all up, I guess you could. But that’s not what VSCO is all about. VSCO stands alone when not solely basing their app on how many likes you get. Don’t get me wrong, Instagram is also one of my favorite apps, but I do enjoy the simplicity VSCO gains by lacking numbers. As do the millions of others who continue to use this app.

So go be the artsy photographer you’ve always wanted to be. Share some photos that mean something to you, VSCO is waiting.