vive

vive is a live video chat app. But more than that, it’s a community. It’s where friendly people from all over the world come together.

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5 Reasons People Who Speak More Than One Language Are AWESOME!

People who speak more than language are certainly special, here’s why we think those folks out there that can handle more than one language are awesome!

1. They’re way more cultured

They're much more knowledgable about the world and the way it works. They understand different cultures and have really in depth knowledge of other countries.

2. They help others out when they’re lost for words

We’ve all been in that situation when you’re in a foreign place and don't understand the language, there’s always someone who can translate and make our lives a whole bunch easier.

3. They know much more about cool places

They have a much broader understanding of the world around them. They have great stories and tips about places that non speakers couldn’t fully understand. Speaking the language, they meet more people and make loads more friends, which means they can learn more from the locals

4. They’re smarter!

According to scientific research, being bilingual, it turns out, makes you smarter. It can have a profound effect on your brain, improving cognitive skills not related to language and even shielding against dementia in old age. Pretty amazing right!

5. They really know how to express themselves 

When you know various languages, you know more words for expressing emotions. Languages from cultures that value passion versus ones from cultures that value reservation are going to have different ways of expressing emotion. Languages that are more passionate will make it easier to express primal emotions such as rage, intense love, or fear.

These are all pretty good reasons you should learn a new language. On vive there’s plenty of awesome people who can help out. If you can already speak multiple languages and think you can give advice and encourage people trying to learn, get on vive now, there’s loads of people who would love to chat.

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Discover the world one location at a time!

We’re delighted to let you all know that Christmas has come early this year and we’re giving you a special gift in the form of a brand new feature! 

Location search… 

With our latest update comes an awesome tool that we’re really excited about. After listening to loads of feedback from you guys on how we can make vive even better, we’ve developed location search. You can now search for new friends and connections based on where they’re at in the world. 

Have you been planning a trip and not sure where to go, or had your heart set on a particular city but not sure what to see? Now there’s no excuse not to find out all the best info from a real life local! 

All you need to do is search for the city you want to know more about in the search bar and we’ll hook you up with the people who live in that city. As well as people who want to talk about the place you searched for. 

So sit back, relax, and travel the world with vive! 

Check it out! We’d love to know what you think.

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Find the best movies and shows to watch from someone who knows what you’ll enjoy

How often do we find ourselves thinking ‘What shall I watch?’ or ‘What should I read?’ or even ‘What should I listen to?’

If you’re anything like me then this question will come up pretty often! Sunday afternoon, some spare time on your hands, all you want is entertainment and quite often we find ourselves pretty stumped on what to watch next. 

When I'm in this situation I usually ask a friend who knows my taste, but more often than not I don’t share the same interests as my friends. I might want to watch a gritty drama, and all they can recommend is the latest Marvel blockbuster. (Nothing against Marvel blockbusters just a hypothetical example!)

Here’s where vive comes in… You can quickly video-call a member of our community knowing exactly what kind of films they like, and get an awesome recommendation right there and then. What’s even better is that you can then return the favour and build a relationship around a topic you’re truly passionate about.

The next time you’re stuck for something to do, give someone on vive a call!

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Practice languages in your own time!

Have you been learning a new language recently, or are you out of practice and starting forget bits that you’d previously mastered. 

Learning a new language is really tough, and if you’re not using language everyday it’s so easy to loose. When you want to practice a language it can be super hard to find someone to talk with. Then once you do find someone it’s frustrating finding time to meet up. 

With vive you can meet people right through your phone or tablet and enjoy free conversations whenever you like. Whether you want to practice your English, or learn Spanish there’s loads of options!

We see many people on vive wanting to practice, or learn a new language. You can do it in your free time, and you don’t need to be scared of looking silly, there’s no one judging you here. What’s even better about this is it’s totally free and you can try out loads of different people to practice with until you find a perfect match.

Make sure you get on vive now and take your awesome language skills to the next level!

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Get amazing tips on what to see on your next adventure!

Are you planning a trip or vacation? Not sure of where to go, or unsure about the best places to visit once you touch down? 

We all want to eat where the locals do, hangout in the best bars, and see the sights that are really worth seeing. Our community is full of adventurers who like to get off the beaten track when they plan their trips.

On vive we have users who have the best local knowledge about hundreds of cities that we’re sure are on your travel checklist. Planning a trip to London? We have that covered. Planning a trip to Brazil? We can help there too! In-fact any place you thinking of visiting, we have people in our community that can hook you up with the must-see spots no problem.

Simply download the app, and create a topic about where you plan on visiting and you’ll get loads of great advice, from real locals. 

Try it out - and why not share advice about the city you live in? You know the best spots, you know what’s worth seeing. Get chatting on vive now and ensure that your next adventure is one you’ll never forget!

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7 Lessons Everyone Can Learn From Musicians

Here at vive we believe that everyone has a story to tell and that everyone can offer great advice to teach people something new. Not only can people share tips, but they can express what they have learnt as a result of following their passions. 

Being a musician is certainly a passion that throws all sorts of challenges and life experiences at you. We can use these life experiences to grow and shape us into the people we are today. Catharine Symblème at LifeHack shared some thoughts on what we can learn from musicians. 

1. Musicians aren’t afraid to suck

Musicians constantly step out of their comfort zone and are unafraid to make mistakes while taking a big learning curve. There are few things quite as painful as listening to a beginning musician. However, if you keep persevering you can achieve greatness. 

2. Musicians stick with their instrument long enough to get good at it

Mastering an instrument is tough, being able to hang in there and see a challenge through is a tall order. Becoming great doesn’t happen overnight. There are so many hurdles to overcome such as coordination, timing, reading music, playing by ear, working as part of a team that musicians really have to get a hold of before they can really control their sound. 

3. Musicians are disciplined and able to take the long view

Like any part of life there’s always parts of any passion or project that we loath. Grasping every aspect of learning a musical instrument such as scales, rudiments, or sight reading are tough challenges that have to be overcome. But once you have these under your belt you can take your sound to the next level. 

4. Musicians have a keen sense of when to speak up … and when to shut up

Being part of any musical group you have to know where you fit in to create an awesome sound. Come in too early or too late, to loud or too quiet and you could’ve blown the whole song. Getting it right can create a heavenly sound that is unbeatable. 

5. Musicians learn to let go of past mistakes and keep on playing

People make mistakes, but they use these mistakes to learn, and then they move on. They don’t dwell on their mistakes. If a musician makes a mistake in a live performance, they can’t just stop; the music must go on. If you make a mistake in music you must quickly adapt to the situation and get back on the right track .This means letting go in the moment, and then learning from it afterwards.

6. Musicians know how to focus both on their own part and on the sound of the whole group.

Being able to focus on the task at hand and keep the big picture in view at the same time is a skill all great musicians have. By listening to themselves as well as others simultaneously, whilst also paying attention to the director and audience response, ensures musicians are great team players and excellent at reading situations. 

7. Musicians know that they are much more powerful as part of a team than alone.

A whole range of factors determine the success of a musician. Whether they’re part of a band or a solo artist, there are many things that can influence their success. They rely on sound engineers, producers, lighting technicians and many more. Being able to appreciate the people around them makes musicians awesome team players and communicators.

We have loads of amazing musicians on vive. Give them a call! What can you learn?

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What Kind Of Friend Are You?

We all know how important our friends are, and we know the kind of person we'd like to turn to when we have certain relationship needs. But what kind of friend are you?

Stepping back and asking that question can really help when making new friends and meeting new people. Kyle Robbins over at Lifehacker has smartly outlined the types of friends you can expect to come across in your life.

Where do you fit in?

The Shoulder

You’re arguably one of the greatest friends out there that can always lend an ear and calm any situation. You’re always thinking about others and love to help people out. Being a shoulder to cry on is a job you do well! 

The Leader

You’re the go to person when organising parties and trips. Whether its planning a birthday party or simply a trip to the movies you’re in charge. You love introducing different groups of your friends to one another and watching their relationships blossom.  

The Helper

You like to show your friendship with others by helping them out. You love going to grab coffee and giving people advice in all areas. Your friends love you because they know that you’ll always be there for them when they want to go for a good catch up.

The Loyal Devotee

You will stick up for your buddies no matter what. Even if they might be a little bit in the wrong, you will never criticise, but stand with them until the bitter end. 

The Adventurer 

You love living life to the full, you enjoy going to new places, seeing new things and making great new friends along the way. There’s no limit to your sense of adventure and the more friends you can take on the ride the better.

The Honest One

You’re more than happy to tell your friends some home truths. You’re not out to upset or hurt anyone but you like to make sure that if you think your friends need some honest advice, you’re there to give it to them. 

The Wise Mentor

You’re usually a few steps ahead of your social group and can use that extra life experience to provide awesome and honest guidance when needed. People like to look up to you and trust your opinions. Steering people in the right direction is what you do, and you love doing it! 

What ever kind of friend you are, you can guarantee that you make a huge difference to many peoples lives. 

Let us know what kind of friend you are in the comments and make sure you download vive so that you can show off your friend skills!

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What makes people interesting?

Great stories happen to those who can tell them.

It can be an intimidating question that causes people to close themselves off or open themselves up to sharing experiences. This is because most of us feel like we have to be interesting for people to be interested in us. After sifting through articles, thinking thoughtfully and talking to others within the vive community, here’s what we found:

It starts with you.  Being interesting isn't a change in your actions but actually a change in your conscience and self-perspective

Like yourself

Embrace your uniqueness.

Step outside of your comfort zone

Identify and hone your beliefs about life, the universe, and about yourself

Be curious - To be interesting is to be interested

Get to know the people around you and the world beyond you

Do the things that interest and excite you

Seek out new places in your town

Try new things

Expose yourself to new ideas

Listen to new music, watch new movies, read new books

Form your own opinions

Hop off the bandwagon, if you’re doing what everyone else is doing you’re late to the party

Talk to new people everyday, learn from other peoples passions

Presence, a combination of confidence, self-belief, strong body language and how well you socially interact.

Your delivery and interaction with people can make all the difference

Be an active listener, don’t just wait your turn to talk

Develop an instinct for the things people want to hear about

Minimize the swagger, egos get in the way of ideas

Be confident in contributing your thoughts and ideas

Challenge yourself to think from a different perspective

What people consider "interesting" is subjective in nature. One person may find another interesting if they share similar interests, so they then build a common relationship. Another person may find someone interesting if their interests are different, which sparks enough intrigue to continue getting to know that person. Perhaps a better question to ask is “what you are passionate about?” Confidence to explore your passions could lead to some interesting results.

Sharing your passions on vive and asking others about their passions is a great way to showcase why you’re interesting and find out about other peoples passions.

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#Letsvive because taking on new challenges can be so rewarding

At vive we like to challenge ourselves. There are so many online resources actively encouraging us to make some serious life changes, or at least to set ourselves manageable yet important goals, that it’s easy to feel overwhelmed. But one such goal really stuck with us: the ’meet a stranger everyday’ challenge initially set by Mark Zuckerberg. Similar projects are now taking on a life of their own in the hands of many different people (http://hellogiggles.com/life-advice-tester-meet-a-stranger-every-day/ & http://30sleeps.com/blog/2007/08/01/social-skydiving-the-art-of-talking-to-strangers/) who actively encourage us to talk to someone new people. This is a challenge we accept everyday at vive.

By talking regularly to the members of the vive community we are constantly talking to strangers and learning all kinds of amazing things and engaging in some pretty great, meaningful conversations. So, whether you’re talking to a trucker in Alaska, a hairdresser in Brazil or a student in Kenya, taking the risk and talking to a stranger is a brilliant way to give yourself that wonderful fuzzy feeling that only comes after a great face-to-face conversation, and you never know, you might just pick up some cool skills along the way!

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#Letsvive, because you can’t beat the magic of a good conversation

Move over feeling human again after your first morning coffee, finding forgotten money in your pocket or the Tumblr thingsfittingperfectlyintothings. There's a more important source of your happiness and it doesn't involve caffeine, money or your deodorant fitting perfectly in your coffee holder. Happiness, it would seem, is tied to the quantity and quality of our social interactions. Those who interact with others frequently ward off the demons of loneliness and low self-esteem, according to the researchers at Brigham Young University, giving them a 50% greater likelihood of out-living their less social counterparts.

With the increasing popularity of social media, the ICMPA has discovered that the more time people spend on social media sites, the more their offline social interactions suffer, suggesting that nothing beats a good old fashioned (emoticon free) face-to-face conversation. The oxymoronic trend whereby increasing ones social media interactivity conversely makes them more isolated has been wonderfully depicted in several recent brilliant short films, our favorites being ‘The Innovation of Loneliness’ (http://bit.ly/1d19akM) and ‘What’s on your mind?’ (http://bit.ly/1yLJODV).

By speaking to each other face to face, vive is reinventing what it means to use social media in a meaningful way, and giving us back that warm fuzzy feeling we can only really get after a proper conversation, so #letsvive because you can’t beat the magic of a good conversation.

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Member Showcase - Julia

Welcome to the new Member Showcase section! Here we'll be featuring different members of the vive community. We like to think of our app as a safe platform for people to talk, share knowledge, learn new skills and engage with people they'd otherwise never meet. Every day our members are using vive to do and discuss things we'd never dreamed of and we want to share some of their experiences on our blog.

This week we're joined by the lovely Julia Stensby, who calls Bloomington, Minnesota her home. After signing up in late July she's been on fire, using the app daily to speak to all kinds of folk. We caught up with her to find out a little bit more about her vive experience so far.

vive: Hi Julia. Can you tell us a little more about yourself and how you joined the app?

JS: Well I've struggled with depression and anxiety. I knew that there were other people going through what I'm going through and are on vive for the same reason - to have a friend and just talk and get their feelings out.

vive: You've been chatting with people from all over the world, do any experiences in particular stand out for you?

JS: Yes I actually have! There's this one person I met and we're making a song together. It's a pretty great experience.

vive: What do you think it is about the app which keeps people like yourself coming back and using it daily?

JS: I've made loads of friends and I'd love to make more - that’s the reason I keep coming back to the app!

vive: Now you've said you're both a music-lover and somewhat of a musician yourself! How is that working out for you?

JS: Yeah music is a huge part of my life! I compete in music competitions (singing) and I'm planning to go further and get my music out there!

vive: What do you plan to do when you leave school?

JS: I'm planning to stick to music. I'd love to make it in the music industry and I think I have a pretty good chance.

We have all the respect in the world for someone who dares to follow their dream. Best of luck Julia!

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#Letsvive, because we don’t talk when we should

Aside from feeling traumatized as you’ve been cruelly ripped from the loving embrace of your bed, the commute to work is notoriously a time to focus incredibly hard to avoid making eye contact with anyone else sharing your journey. It makes perfect sense, eye contact leads to an acknowledgement that another person exists which, heaven forbid, might lead to a conversation.

However, two professors at the University of Chicago are questioning this avoidance behavior, observing commuters, those traveling by trains, planes and those in waiting rooms. They discovered a latent paradox; we are happier when we talk to strangers and yet, our instinct is to ignore them. They asked their participants on their commute to either talk to a stranger, sit in solitude, or behave as they normally would. Perhaps unsurprisingly, those who engaged in conversation reported a more enjoyable commute. 

They also discovered that the pleasure of talking to a stranger was equal between introverts and extroverts alike, emphasizing that rather than focusing on trying to increase one’s extrovert qualities, ‘removing the barrier to start a conversation’ may actually be the most important factor in encouraging interaction between strangers. So if you want a more fulfilling commute – get chatting!

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Real People. Real Connections. Real Community. All in vive.

A picture and a sentence. A link and a “like”. This is how we interact with our friends on social media a lot of the time. We carefully filter what we post, and sometimes we cut away too much of what makes human connections feel great.

Ironically, as our world grows increasingly connected, we connect less and less on an emotional level.

Our goal at vive is to change that.

vive is a community where you meet people face to face through video chat. From all around the world, but based on your common interests and personality. We work to create a place unlike any other online, where friendly, curious people come together and talk about the things they’re passionate about.

But it’s the people who make vive what it is. That is why, here at the vive office, we love being a part of the community ourselves, and hearing stories that happen on vive. We are amazed every day to see how something unique happens when people start talk to in person again. Real connections, friendships and lasting memories are created.

On this blog, we’d like to share some of these stories and the things we learn along the way. If you’d like to be a part of it, just send us a request to join.