Vocal I'm Home

It’s been too long since I’ve written a story. 2023 had me pressed in a ball so tightly wound I could not open my chest cavity for air. It was rough. To describe it all in one sentence, one paragraph or one book would be just as difficult. So, instead I think I’ll warm up and show some overall appreciation for the platform (without bias). When I first joined the Vocal community almost three years ago, it was on the rise. There were not nearly as many options on the drop-down list and maybe five hundred thousand artists/creators including myself. It reminded me of a blog the way the format was set up, but was comforting to the user, and the way to make money was simple even a snail with arms could participate and get something out of it. I wrote my first and most read story back then. My Friend Death was the title, and the story is about a suicidal person that has had enough of life and is giving themselves up. The image you are supposed to see in your mind is that person you know that ended everything so soon from their point of view. I won’t go into much detail (that’s not what this is about) but they published it! To my surprise they really published it. With so many platforms attaching themselves to the first amendment at the hip, but immediately severing the connection as soon as they start to grow, I found that spectacular. The thought went through my head “I can actually say what I think and feel here” which is unheard of especially now going into 2024.

Now obviously there are rules, and I did search them because some things aren’t really free flowing thoughts, they’re more like hate possessive speech, but fortunately Vocal covers all those things. Anything that directly attacks someone’s belief in religion, political party, skin color, things like that are off limits which is an overall regular base covering strategy. The only thing I would say is there is a place to speak about politics (not in a negative light) but in a discussion format. Nobody needs to be convincing or trying to grow a following through religion we’ve seen what problems come from that, and if you’re looking for that, go seek it and nobody should be attacking skin tone in creations either, but we all have to deal with the effects of our political decisions as a whole. Now obviously the front of the page would be a disaster, but if there was another option in the drop-down section that raised the subscription (monthly to $15) an extra five dollars to have the opportunity to speak about politics… I would be interested is all I’m saying.

The beginning, the additions and now the bad. Vocal has not always been this fair and inclusive. No, they were at one point biased about certain things and had to grow out of it. “No way!” You would say, but it’s true and like any good supporter I wanted them to be aware of their faults early, so I wrote them an open letter. Oh Vocal I called it, and it was informational to put it lightly. Back then like today there were top stories or a featured portion of the site. It was the top-rated creators’ stories for that week or period Vocal deemed adequate. There were no stories on the featured page back then that were not what I would call “Feel good” stories. You know the ones where the people go through something bad, then someone comes to help them defeat the bad guy, the people get what they want and then some and everyone lives happily ever after. The page was compiled with articles that covered new tv shows, movies and the like which, no disrespect to the art itself but that’s a review not a story. The main point of the featured page was/is to shed light on creators that have done something exemplary, above the status quo, but only certain people would receive that time in the sun. Anyone that went outside that box was to be shunned, especially since the rules were much tighter on what could and could not be said. As it is a paid platform nothing except pure hate speech should be prohibited. Sex, illicit activities whatever it may be a story is a story. We’ve all had to read stories about the worst things done to humans throughout historical society for free, but I can’t express the catastrophe I feel daily or the injustice that I see in abundance even though I pay? And if I do, I’ll be penalized, not openly but softly put in the “Do not read” basket. It was wrong, but the good news is they heard it and to take it a step further they listened. Then they did what most people/companies refuse to do, they acted upon it.

When I logged back into Vocal it was beautiful. All the top stories were different. There was not one genre that saturated the market. There are options to invest in the company now (which I need to do) and if you read the overview, they are on the rise from a couple hundred thousand to over two million creators. The competition they are going after (Patreon and Substack) is huge in every community! Which means I got in early and that gets me excited for this year and every year following. It is highly probable that if they can continuously grow like this over a 5-year period then Vocal will become a giant in content space for creators (writers specifically). Patreon specifically focuses heavily on video content creation from comedians, YouTuber's, vlogger's and the like. I don’t know much explicit information about the others, but I know there’s no other platform (for writers) that gives this much power to its creators, because I looked. Early on in our relationship I cheated and viewed other platforms that might help grow my audience quicker or pay me more for my word count or story telling ability. They are out there, but they do not compare.

Nothing is going to be perfect; everything is not going to be okay, but at least with Vocal we have a place to freely express that. Some things still need to be added like dark mode, but now I’m nitpicking. Well done Vocal. Your ability to fix past problems, to make an inviting present and hopeful future predictions have brought me back to you. I also really wanted to write… there are a plethora of things I must get off my chest this year and I know you will be listening.