The VSCO platform is known by photographers as a great place to edit photos, use filters, and create a digital portfolio space. However with new features on the way, VSCO is looking to become a social community space for creatives.
Adding to its suite of services for visual images, VSCO launched its Spaces feature last year. Spaces allow for collaborative photo albums to be created around specific themes, with users able to chat about their design choices.
But this month, the platform is looking to add the ability for users to share text-based posts. It will also allow users to chat with each other regardless of who is following who, up to 3 new conversations a day for non-paying users.
Where Spaces were often hidden private collections, VSCO is also now enabling users to show previews of Spaces so that prospective members can see whether it’s for them.
“They can be authentic, they can explore their creativity; increasingly, they can connect with others and build community around that and really pursue whatever goals and aspirations they have” VSCO president Eric Wittman explained in an interview with TechCrunch.
Admitting that a lot of VSCO users like the app for the filters, he says they also “were sort of meeting new people or being inspired by other people on VSCO, but then they didn’t really have a way to interact with them”
While it is now allowing for greater communication between users, VSCO still won’t be adding comment or ‘like’ features to the platform, saying they can make individuals feel judged.