VSCO vs. Instagram
/“Is this picture good?” “Do I look okay?” “Will everyone think I’m weird for posting this?” “Will it get many likes?” I’m pretty sure you all know exactly what I’m talking about. Yeah, you guessed it. Instagram. How many times have you had those thoughts race through your head as you’re getting ready to post a picture? If you’re able to truthfully say that you’ve never had any of these thoughts creep into your head, I’ll have to applaud you. Now, don’t get me wrong, I love using Instagram. It’s probably one of the most-used apps on my phone. Yet, I know that sometimes I let Instagram get the better of me. That’s why I’m a big fan of the social media app, VSCO. For those of you who don’t know what it is, VSCO is a form of social media that allows you to share pictures much like Instagram but you can’t see how many followers your friends have, or how many ‘likes’ a photo gets. It’s a place where you can share as many photos a day as you would like, and the idea of likes and followers never has to cross your mind. I’m a big fan of both, but are you an insta lover or a faithful VSCO user?
We’ll start off with the grandfather of picture sharing apps. Like I said, I’m a big fan of Instagram. I love being able to stay up to date with what Rihanna and Beyoncé are posting. That’s the one of the great things about Instagram. Most celebrities have this app so it’s not hard to creep your celebrity crushes. Speaking of crushes, that’s another great thing about Instagram; you get to keep up to date with your real-life crushes, and easily show them off to your friends. However, Instagram isn’t just all about stalking people you have a crush on, it’s also a great app to explore breath-taking photos. Accounts like National Geographic are always sharing pictures from across the world. They share bits of information about the indigenous people of the land there, or talk about how climate change has affected areas of the world. For another example, take Humans of New York; sharing inspiring and often heartbreaking stories of the struggles that everyday people face. Instagram is a great platform to generate awareness about various issues that are affecting society.
Now with all these great things to say about Instagram there are some downsides to the app. Instagram is very much a numbers app: number of likes, number of comments, number of followers, etc. Just because someone may have over 1,000 likes on their pictures doesn’t make them any ‘cooler’ or ‘prettier’ than the next person. Yet those numbers can start to play tricks on our minds. How about all you that are in relationships – ever see your significant other like someone else’s picture and feel that pinch of jealousy? Don’t worry, we’ve all been there.
So, what’s so great about VSCO? The idea that it’s never about a competition of getting so many likes per post is what I like best. You’re free to post whatever you want without having to worry that the post didn’t get as many likes as your last one since your followers can’t see the amount of likes you get per photo and vice versa. We all have that one person that we’re following and they post multiple pictures a day and even though it shouldn’t be bothersome, we all know it kind of is. Yet on VSCO the account is really meant for you so it does not matter how many pictures you post a day. You could post 20 and nobody would bat an eye. With VSCO it’s not about having to pose as somebody that you’re not just so that you can get more followers, VSCO is not about playing games. VSCO allows you to express your more artistic side, and share those quirky pictures you took but were hesitant to post. Also, something else that may peak your interest is that VSCO has really cool filters. You know us millennials, we love our filters and we’d try to put them on ultrasounds if we could.
Have you picked which side you are on? If you’re really at a loss for what app to favor, be like myself and root for both. With all that being said, at the end of the day both photo sharing apps are just apps. They don’t dictate how great your life is, or what kind of person you are. If you take a picture that you really love, post it. Post it to Instagram and VSCO, and don’t worry about how many people are going to like the picture. The only thing that matters is if you like it. Happy posting.
