An Update on Vocal & Community Building

Vocal has always been committed to providing a platform for creators to share their stories and connect with audiences worldwide. In our constant effort to help creators reach new heights and grow their readership, we are excited to introduce a few updates we’ve been working on.

Product Updates

In the past few months, we've put in a lot of effort to bring you the latest features, such as Activity Feed, Comments, and our first mobile reader apps.

We're excited to announce that we’re introducing push notifications on both iOS/Android in the coming days, ensuring that you never miss an Activity Feed update again. To see this feature in action, make sure to download the app (Apple / Google Play) or update your existing app to the latest version.

What's coming?

Our team has been working hard behind the scenes on a feature that we think will revolutionize the way you experience Vocal: Exclusive Stories.

Available soon to Vocal+ members only, Exclusive Stories will enable you to publish stories straight to your profile (no community needed), solely viewable to your paying subscribers.

With this update, we will merge Pledging into the Subscribe feature, providing you with the option of offering a free or paid subscription to your supporters.

In the upcoming weeks, we'll reveal more details on the roll out of Exclusive Stories, and we're excited to hear your thoughts and feedback in the comment section below.

Community Updates

After introducing Comments, we've been amazed by the way the Vocal community has come together to encourage and uplift fellow creators through impactful discussions. We've also noticed the influence of the community that has emerged beyond Vocal, including the incredible Facebook Groups that endorse Vocal creators. As a result, we're initiating two new weekly resources, the Vocal Community Chat and the Raise Your Voice Thread.

In an effort to foster open communication and offer valuable insights, the Vocal team and community will come together every Tuesday at 12 PM ET for the Vocal Community Chat. This chat will enable us to share tips, exchange insights, and address any questions that arise. Our inaugural chat will launch on April 11th, next Tuesday, so be sure to add it to your calendar:

We'll also be hosting a Raise Your Voice Thread every Thursday at 12 PM ET. This new resource is designed to provide creators with more avenues to explore exceptional stories on Vocal. As we are constantly on the lookout for emerging and inspiring creators, we hope that this thread will offer a space for us to discuss and exchange the stories that have moved and motivated us on Vocal, together. Add Raise Your Voice Thread to your calendar so you don’t miss out:

We want to keep Challenges fresh and exciting, and we know that the best ideas come from you. That's why we're inviting you to share your Challenge ideas in the comments section of this resource: Share Your Ideas to Shape the Future of Vocal Challenges. We deeply value your ideas and suggestions. If we choose your Challenge idea, we'll send you a bonus as a thank you for your creativity and input.

We also are going to be testing a few things over the next few weeks, including free Challenges for non-Vocal+ members. Think daily writing prompts with smaller cash prizes.

We look forward to engaging with you in the new resource threads, and we’re excited to hear your thoughts in the comments below.