Vernacular social media platform VAO introduces cashbacks for venting out frustration

At a time when a large section of people has started feeling stressed on being confined to their houses after a month of lockdown, vernacular social media platform VentAllOut (VAO) has introduced a new feature to prompt more people to vent out their frustration on the platform and reward them with cashbacks.

VAO, which has over 12,000 registered users on its platform, said the new feature 'Vent and Earn' will enable users to avail benefit from the lockdown.

"It is a known fact that being house arrest for over a month now, people have developed a feeling of dejection and frustration. This purpose of the new feature is two-fold. VAO converts this gruesome situation into an opportunity to benefit from the existing chaos in life," VAO said in a statement.

Secondly, by allowing users to vent out their chaotic life, the platform ensures their mental well-being as all the negative energies within them get a channel to be driven out of the system, helping them stay motivated and positive, it added.

To ensure privacy as well as to evade the concern of being judged, the platform supports users to keep their identity anonymous, the statement said.

Over the period of lockdown, the platform has seen a surge of 20-23 per cent in traffic in about a month.

"In the last few months, we have seen growth in the conversation and the time spent by the users on the platform. We have seen a 66 per cent increase in the number of hits on our website and 100 per cent growth rate in terms of the content been viewed," VAO founder and CEO Sumit Mittal said.

He added that apart from sharing their stories, people are also seeking advice to deal with stress and anxiety during lockdown from VAO's panel of experts.

"Therefore, to keep them motivated and positive, we came up with the idea of 'Vent and Earn' to spread joy when everyone is going through their worst moods during the lockdown. It is not the money that brings happiness, but the idea of winning something that adds to the joy," he said.

The feature, which can get users cashback of up to Rs 12, needs to be a minimum of 100 words for venting, and 50 words for comment. These have to abide by the guidelines of VAO and any abusive, anti-national or plagiarised content will not be allowed.