What's the most revealing social network? Venmo, the app that lets you electronically send money to your friends, is probably not the network that comes to mind. But thanks to the creation of the site Vicemo, that may be changing soon. Vicemo catalogs all Venmo transactions that involve sex and drugs into a very entertaining livestream.
Because Venmo makes users explain what they are paying or charging people for before completing the transaction, the app has evolved into an interesting platform where people's social activity and financial interactions are on display in a way not easily seen through other, more traditional networks. Thanks to the mobile payment app, you now know that your old college roommate saw Fifty Shades of Grey last night with her coworker and that your neighbor was a month late on paying their half of the Internet bill.
So naturally it was only a matter of time before someone created a way to filter through the more mundane Venmo interactions to get to the truly entertaining stuff. Vicemo combs through Venmo's social feed for words and emoji related to drugs, drinking and sex. It seems pretty obvious that many of the illicit transactions on the site are jokes and were written simply as a form of entertainment.
But regardless, it seems like a good time to change your privacy settings from "public." With employers tracking potential applicants social presence and with people getting fired solely because of something they said on Twitter, Venmo could become a spot of vulnerability.
Vicemo's was created by Mike Lacher and Chris Baker, the same people who brought you the Upworthy Generator and UnBaby.me.
"Venmo's pretty unique since there's a social component to the payments, with people posting publicly about what they're paying for," Lacher says. "We thought it would be funny to see who's publicly posting about buying drugs, booze, and sex."
So if you want an entertaining way to procrastinate that involves a pun about meth or are simply fond of the creative ways people use drug emoji to express themselves, Vicemo is worth checking out.
