So, who is a VSCO girl? Well, the majority of the participants land somewhere between middle and high school, with the trend definitely tapering off before college, which makes sense, considering 75% of VSCO’s users are Gen Z, according to CEO Joel Flory. Unlike the “Valley girls” of my day, however, being a VSCO girl is far more about your filter and what you’re wearing than your location or the way you speak. Just kidding, Gen Zers don’t use Facebook! Oh, and you’re also going to see it IRL (translation: that’s “in real life”) at your local mall, your coffee shop and pretty much everywhere else you stop during your day. And it’s that laid back look - in addition to slew of must-have products - that has spawned a generation-defining trend that can be seen everywhere from the VSCO app to Tik Tok to Instagram to YouTube to Facebook. It allows them to select preset filters to give their images and videos an extra beachy, golden hour vibe. Moms are trying to make sense of it on the soccer field sidelines, kids are whispering about it as they race out of school, news outlets far and wide have been covering it as, well, news.Ĭonfused? Here’s the backstory: VSCO (pronounced “visco”) is a photo editing and sharing app (free of likes or commenting) widely used among tweens and teens. And the phenomenon or meme or movement - whatever you want to label it - has only grown. When I first heard the phrase “VSCO girl” from a neighbor over the summer, I had to ask her to repeat it several times, then insisted she spell it out because I simply didn’t understand what the heck she was talking about.