More Observations On Vocal Next Steps

Introduction

Vocal has announced a slew of new features, all detailed in this article below, so you can check out what I am talking about there.

🤝 New Vocal Communities

We have four new communities which are good as the subjects had to be shoehorned into others. I still believe that the following groups should be merged and their subjects are very similar, the overall group can have tabs for the actual subjects.

• 01 - Geeks - Gamers
• Cleats - Unbalanced
• Proof - Potent
• Trader - Chain
• Earth - Wander

Also, I am not sure of the purpose of Lifehack, and FYI, they could easily be let go and people could easily post in other groups.

I also have a slight worry that the men's group may attract misogynists and incels but that may be me overreacting.

Overall the new groups are a definite positive step forward.

💬 Discord

While a group talk is another positive addition I had to force myself in as I don't do well in crowds. The Tuesday and Thursday Vocal threads I find manageable but I dropped into Discord this morning and it was like I had been buried in an avalanche.

It is great to let people talk and share, but there are too many there for me, but this is Vocal testing this out and deciding how to model their own area. I know if I don't talk then I cannot complain when things happen when I am not involved, but barring my initial warning, I didn't feel able to say anything and felt lost.

I have a feeling I will be mostly absent from the Discord Group. I will drop in from time to time but not sure that I will have anything to contribute.

It is a good exercise in getting people to talk to each other, but I prefer one-to-ones or very small groups.

👕 The Vocal Store

Again not something that bothers me but it is a good way to spread the Vocal message and Logo and lots of Vocal members are up for that. I did write a piece on Logos but it was more geared toward Sport and Brand advertising. You can read it here.

There is also the Vocal Fiction Awards Anthology which people have been waiting for that will be available when the store opens, which is another positive step.

💡 Vocal Creator Chat Feature Requests

This shows that Vocal is listening to creators and hopefully some of these will be implemented in the future. There are a few that I think can be done already if people look into the right place, but the very fact that these have been listed bodes well for the future on Vocal.

🏆 Summer Challenge Series

This is just nice to know that this is coming, previous ones have been entertaining and we have seen some great stories by our creators that have come out on the winning lists.

📚 Resources By Creators, For Creators

This is an excellent idea. I suggested one of mine, which was a Top Story, and has a few people who use it, and Vocal have told me that they are going to implement it so I don't think I need to submit it by the online form. It case you are wondering this is the original but Vocal are remodeling it for their resource.

💰 Bonuses

Vocal has promised us more transparency, which we really do need, but the $10 bonus for publishing in each of the new communities is a great idea to get stories into those communities. I wonder if people are putting their stories together for these already, then holding them until the communities become live.

📝Fiction

Microfiction has been a great success, but I am a bit worried about the dropping of the word requirement for fiction completely. I believe this will be ideal for spammers, so I hope that Vocal has something in place to ensure that stories are fit for reading

🌞 Conclusion

I feel that this is one of the biggest and best announcements that we have had from Vocal. Yes, there may be the odd concern but there is a veritable cornucopia of great things coming our way from Vocal and I for one am really looking forward to it.