By Sara Casareto ’16

Social media is a given part of life. The app that’s trending differs, as shown by the hops from Facebook to Instagram to now, VSCO. This photo editing app also allows people to share their photos to a grid where anyone can see them, but there’s a twist: no “like” option and it is completely anonymous in terms of followers.

“I use VSCO to post more of the pictures I take on a daily basis,” said senior Julia Horwitz. “It’s cool to be able to post a lot of pictures at once and not be judged for it. My favorite thing about VSCO is being able to follow whoever I want and them not knowing.”

Visual Supply and Co. was founded in 2011, but only recently created its app, VSCO cam, enabling users to access VSCO from anywhere. The company’s message and goal is to promote the sharing and formation of creativity and artistic expression.

VSCO was inspired by the look of Hollywood films, giving photos a quality of professional movies. As an online writer for The Verge said, “Whereas Instagram set out to make your mobile photos look good, VSCO hopes to make them look real.” The variety of filters and the added editing tools makes VSCO cam a popular editing app, not just a social media, if in truth it can even be dubbed a social site with VSCO’s anonymity of followers.

The app allows people to edit their pictures and either post it to the online grid or save it to their phones to post on other social media sites. The Grid is open for all to see and for anyone to follow; however, the person posting the picture has absolutely no idea who is following them. “The lack of followers lets me feel more comfortable with posting whatever I want,” said freshman Maureen Fisher.

The app’s latest update had over a million downloads within the first week of its release this June. The new popularity of this app and all its different features encompass the argument teens often use to justify their use of social media. It’s all about personal expression.