VSCO is an app that is truly one of a kind . I first discovered VSCO around the 6th grade. It was a cool app with lots of filters and it was new. So you can see why it was appealing to an 11 year old. I never posted on the app but I liked to change the colour of my photos on VSCO and then upload them to instagram .
Now that I am in grade 12 I use VSCO on the daily to post my content and look at others. VSCO has always been a great platform for fashion and has paved the way for many popular trends that we know today. When my friends and I started to download VSCO we thought it was a really cool concept. There was no follower count, no likes and no comments. It was a very toxic free environment. There was no pressure to get more likes or followers because your friends had a lot, and you aren't worried about getting less comments than your more popular friends. It was a nice relief from the constant pressure that an app like Instagram was creating. Although VSCO came up with such a smart idea (and no one has tried to copy it) I still find it quite toxic.
While there are no follower counts or like counts, the amount of bikini pictures and style pictures can make you wish you lived a life that doesn't belong to you . I have found myself multiple times scrolling through VSCO and saying “Man, I wish that was my life” or “how can someone be so skinny or pretty”. With the increasing amount of scandalous photos I feel that most girls compare and shame themselves for not looking like the girl on the screen. It is obvious that nobody's life is as perfect as they make it seem online but, it's hard to remember that when you're caught up in the moment. You wonder about things like “ how did she even take that?” or “where do they live to take such good pics?”
Therefore, I find that the worst thing about the app is how it prompts girls to compare themselves to other girls. Nothing is as it seems on camera and the girls you envy, may very well envy you.
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