“Did you see what she posted on her VSCO?” “Fortnite is for boys, VSCO is for girls!” “I’ll post that on VSCO, not Instagram. Don’t worry.” If you’ve heard one of these phrases or one similar, you’ve come into contact with a VSCO user. VSCO is a newer form of social media that has started to gain just as much popularity as Instagram or Snapchat among teenage girls. VSCO can be viewed online or on its own app. Though it started as a platform for aspiring artists to share their pictures, it is now a popular app amongst high schoolers because they see it as more private than Instagram or Facebook. On other social media, your mom, your old crush, and your grandmother might follow you. VSCO is seen as a platform mainly used by girls around your age, but that concept is far from the truth.

VSCO can be seen by anyone. There is no way around that fact. The private account and follow request features of Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter make them much more private than VSCO. VSCO can be seen by anyone in the world, just by looking up your name. Some girls even make finding their accounts easier by putting the link in their Instagram bios, which can be seen even if you don’t follow said person. Another frightening aspect of the app is a certain default in the app; unless you change it, the location of where you take or post your pictures is viewable by anyone. The widespread belief that the app is more private leads to girls posting pictures that they wouldn’t normally post on social media. Finding a picture of a girl in little clothing or with illegal substances is fairly common on VSCO. Perhaps the girls posting the images think they look good in them, or they look cool doing these things. The lack of security features on the app can lead to frightening and creepy situations. It may be hard to believe that someone is watching your account until it happens to you. There are companies you can check out that offer Cyber Security Services.

In Winston Salem, some teenage girls have discovered the shocking reality of how dangerous this public site can be. About twenty high school girls had bikini pictures on their accounts photoshopped by a sexual predator and turned into incredibly obscene images. These images have been published on inappropriate websites, and the FBI has done all they can to help these girls. They were able to get rid of the girls’ names and locations, but the images cannot be removed from the dark web.

“Think before you post” is a phrase said over and over again, so much that it may lose its meaning to some people. I urge you to take a step back before you post something. Think. Could this be used against me in anyway? Can people tell my location from this? If the answer to either of those questions is yes, don’t post the picture. So many bright futures are ahead for young ladies in high school today, and there is no need for them to be tarnished due to social media.