Vocal Media - Should I Stay or Should I Go?

“I write entirely to find out what I’m thinking, what I’m looking at, what I see, and what it means. What I want and what I fear.”. – Joan Didion.

My Vocal Media trial ends soon, whilst I am grateful to Vocal Media for letting me experience what it's like to write on this platform I now have a few days to think about if I want to stay here or not.

I'll admit when I first heard of this writing platform I was a little skeptical. It was the offer of a free trial that lured me in. I had read more than a few negative reviews and scare stories about this platform. From people having to provide proof of their views to others having to appeal to get their earnings and long delays on story approvals. I needed to see it for myself, therefore my curiosity got the better of me.

My own experiences have been fairly positive and I would highly recommend this as a writing platform. Although I feel for newer online writers Medium would be a better option first. As I feel you need to have built an audience before you move here. My initial reads and followers were originally from my other writing platforms.

The pros have been a supportive and friendly community. The staff seem pretty awesome and actively engage with writers. Plus I have to say the initial bonuses were a pleasant surprise. I did not know of these until I started writing. They helped to motivate me to write more consistently and stay focused.

The negative is I can earn a lot more for my views elsewhere, although for me the main goal is about improving my writing and building an engaged audience. Not being able to connect with the audience in Vocal is what devalues this platform, but I am aware this is going to be addressed, with a comments feature being added real soon.

Another negative is I noticed that most of the winners of the writing challenges are the more established writers on the platform. Those with Facebook groups, lots of followers, and large Twitter accounts - automatically have a larger reach by default. This made me wonder if the selection criteria are partly view-driven rather than pure talent? That said, I have read some great entries by inspiring writers.

If I decide to stay and be a Vocal+ member, this comes with a $9.99 price tag. Therefore maybe I'll cough up the money and test the waters for another 3 months or so to see if this will be a viable product. Not just in terms of earning, but also learning and connecting with other writers.

I feel to justify the cost I will need to take full advantage of the perks and this means entering the writing challenges. And, if I decide to stay in March 2022, I was thinking of doing a little post-a-day experiment that would potentially boost the algorithm, allowing me to see the true potential of the internal reach on this platform.

I do look forward to seeing what other features Vocal plans to roll out this year. Especially with new contenders popping up such as 'Simily'. In summary, I think I'll give Vocal+ another go after the trial expires and will review things in 3 months. I will do a post-a-day in March, measuring my metrics and pushing the boundaries of what this platform has to offer. I'll keep you posted, wish me luck!

💭 Once the comment feature is activated I would love to know your thoughts and experiences with Vocal+ 👇