Without a doubt, the biggest song of the summer has been Drake’s “In My Feelings” record. How this tune rose in popularity can be credited to social media influencer/comedian Shiggy. The 25-year-old born Shaquille Mitchell posted the #DoTheShiggy dance challenge on his Instagram account and the catchy chorus paired with Shiggy’s dance moves ushered in thousands of creative submissions. Let’s take a look at some of the big ones.
Entertainer Will Smith unquestionably is one of the most popular and successful actors since the early 1990’s. The rapper turned actor gained fame on the Fresh Prince of Bel Air sitcom for six seasons, before transitioning into one of Hollywood’s most bankable stars.
However, in recent years his star has dimmed a bit. Questionable movie roles and lack of audience interest finally caught up to Smith. His days of grossing $100 million+ for eight straight films in the 2000’s were long gone. Fast forward to 2018 and the movie industry has a new generation of fresh faces that have exploded onto the scene. Even an established, charismatic and charming personality like Will Smith has seen his fair challenges. The two-time Oscar nominee found his career at a crossroads with not so stellar box office receipts in recent years.
Instead of fading off into the sunset and walking away from the movie industry, Smith recently turned to social media to remind fans about the Will Smith brand. Let’s look at what he’s done with digital in just a few short months.
Leverages social media influencers
On the December 14th, 2017 taping of the Ellen show, Will Smith promoted his new Netflix film, Bright. With the assistance of day time talk show queen Ellen DeGeneres, she playfully got Smith up to speed with how to use Instagram and take the best images. One of Will’s signature traits is his humility, being able to make fun of himself on screen and in this case, he demonstrated it flawlessly. It also didn’t hurt to have Ellen’s combined social media presence of over 180+ million followers help welcome Will to the ‘gram.
A little over one week later, Will Smith teamed up with YouTube star Lilly Singh aka IISuperwomanII to help produce a comedic video on Internet lingo. The playful sketch saw the Independence Day actor poke fun of himself again, learning the ins and outs of social media language that his children Jaden and Willow use on a regular day basis.
This past week, a new social media app made some noise called Vero. I know what you are thinking…do we need another app to consume our daily lives? Maybe we do, maybe we don’t. Are you tired of using the same social media platforms? This might be of interest for you. It has a very clean and polished looking interface. While Facebook has had a 10+ year run and Instagram just behind it with 8, competition always helps improve the existing products. Here are few reasons why you might want to give Vero a chance.
Select which audience you want to share your posts with.
Chronological Feed
This is probably the biggest request many users wanted back. Facebook who also owns Instagram added algorithms to their feed a few years ago on the basis that your post would show up at the top of your app based on engagement (likes, comments). And while some like to live in the dark and just creep away, others just want to see the posts arrive in traditional style, from newest post to oldest. Vero brings that back.
Vero provides you with your own stats usage.
Vero gives you multiple options
Some of the most frustrating parts of an app like Instagram is that it is a link less application (only to be seen in the bio section). Vero incorporates weblink sharing including recommendations for movies, books and music. They let you buy stuff without leaving the app. Also, when it comes to viewing Instagram images, you have to hold your fingers to do a pinch zoom…with Vero you can simply zoom in once and it will hold your zoom for as long as you like. This little small practice is a welcome addition for the user.
Vero provides a clean and polished interface.
Ad Free
Say goodbye to sponsored posts and content that you never wanted to see in the first place. Probably one of the highlights of Vero is that they don’t want to fill your feed with advertisements that you know you are going to scroll past anyways. This is going to be a huge sell among users who are tired of seeing ads. This is especially evident on YouTube where you have to wait a few seconds before you can view your desired content. I wonder how Vero is going to make their revenues though lol.
Final Thoughts
So there you have it, Vero has entered the social media game in a big way. They originally launched three years ago, but the owner behind the app is billionaire Ayman Hariri and he is looking to make a huge splash. Time will tell how Vero fares with social media users.
Personally, I am all in favour of new competition entering the marketplace, if they have a purpose and are different from their counterparts. But I won’t jump on it until I know my own circle of friends start to download the app. Will Vero sway people who have grown tired of the FB, IG’s and Snaps of the world? We will see if people will catch on with this app.
