Vocal’s Tagging System Is a Mess

A writing platform should make publishing easier.

Vocal often makes it harder at the exact point where writers need clarity most: choosing a community and tags.

I am not talking about the writing itself. I am talking about the classification system that comes after the writing is done.

I went through every Vocal community and every pre-populated tag because I kept running into the same problem.

I would finish an article, know exactly what it was about, then hit the category section and suddenly slow down over a system that should have been simple. The more I looked, the clearer the problem became. This is not just mildly untidy. It is structurally messy.

The issue is not that Vocal has a lot of topics. The issue is that the system does not follow one clean logic. It mixes subject matter, article format, tone, audience, identity, workflow stage, review buckets, platform clutter, and vague filler words inside the same tag pools.

That is why so many communities feel confusing before you even choose one.

Some community names are also trying too hard to be branded instead of useful. Writers should not have to decode what 01, FYI, Unbalanced, or any of the other vague names are supposed to mean before deciding where a story belongs.

A practical platform should orient the writer immediately. If the title of a community needs interpretation, that is already unnecessary friction.

The tags themselves are even messier.

Some are duplicates or near-duplicates. Some are so broad they classify almost nothing. Some appear to be internal clutter. Some seem malformed. Some are oddly specific while others are so vague they could mean almost anything. The same fillers keep showing up over and over: vintage, Vocal, humanity, general, feature, review, list, interview, how-to, and others. Those words are not all useless in the right place, but they are so widely scattered across unrelated communities that they stop helping writers make clear choices.

There is also no discipline in how the tags are built.

A single community may include the subject of the article, the format of the article, the mood of the article, the identity of the writer or reader, the workflow stage of the piece, and a review tag that has nothing to do with the rest of the category. That is not a clean taxonomy. It is a pile of _____.

Some of the inconsistencies are just strange.

• Why is Vocal a tag in places like Motivation, Education, Humor, Interview, Journal, and Writers? What is a writer supposed to do with that?
• Why is vintage scattered all over the platform regardless of whether the community is about food, pets, alcohol, gaming, or wellness?
• What does virtuoso even mean in many of these contexts?
• What is Doctor Fiction supposed to communicate? What is That Type?

Much of this platform is loaded with selective curation.

The platform also has obvious asymmetries.

• There is a Men community, but no Women community. If men get a direct literal label while women get none, that is not consistent naming.
• Vocal also has a Fiction community, but no matching Nonfiction community. On a writing platform, that is an especially strange omission. Nonfiction is one of the most basic publishing categories there is, yet on Vocal it gets folded into scattered tags instead of given a clear home.
• There is a military-oriented community, Serve, but no equivalent clear place for police, firefighters, EMS, paramedics, dispatchers, or first responders more broadly. If Vocal is going to use identity-based or service-based taxonomy, then it should do it consistently rather than selectively.
• The same goes for LGBTQ tagging. I am not arguing for less inclusion. I am arguing for better structure. Right now the platform uses Pride, LGBTQ, LGBTQIA, LGBT Travel, and LGBTQ tags scattered across different communities, but the overall identity taxonomy still feels piecemeal rather than organized. Inclusion without structure still leaves writers guessing. If Vocal is going to organize parts of the platform around identity and community, it should do so clearly and consistently. If it is not going to do that well, then it should simplify the system instead of applying it unevenly.
• If Vocal is going to organize parts of the platform around identity and community, it should do so clearly and consistently. If it is not going to do that well, then it should simplify the system instead of applying it unevenly.

And I personally believe all of this is important because writers notice it. A system like this wastes time, encourages weak article placement, and probably discourages some people from publishing at all. It also hurts discovery. If writers cannot tell where a piece belongs, readers are less likely to find it where it should be.

To show exactly how messy the system is, here is the full list of communities and the pre-set tags currently attached to them.

01

apps, book reviews, cryptocurrency, cybersecurity, fact or fiction, future, gadgets, hackers, history, how-to, interview, list, mobile, photography, pop culture, product review, social media, startup, tech news, thought leaders, vintage, VR

Art

contemporary art, critique, drawing, exhibition, fiction, fine art, general, history, illustration, inspiration, journey, mixed media, painting, process, sculpture, technique

Beat

60s music, 70s music, 80s music, 90s music, album reviews, alternative, alternative rock, art, bands, bass, book reviews, celebrities, classical, concert, country, dance, DIY, electronica, fact or fiction, feature, festivals, history, how-to, humanity, indie, industry, instruments, interview, list, literature, metal, movie review, new wave, photography, playlist, pop, pop culture, product review, punk, quotes, rap, rock, satire, science, social media, song reviews, synth, techno, travel, TV review, vintage, vinyl

Blush

art, body, celebrity, cruelty-free, DIY, face, hair, how-to, interview, makeup, nails, organic, pop culture, product review, skincare, social media, tutorial, vintage

Book Club

analysis, author, book of the day, book of the month, book of the week, book of the year, challenge, club, discussion, fiction, genre, nonfiction, quote, reading challenge, reading list, recommendation, review, theme, topical book club

Chapters

adventure, autobiography, biography, business, children's fiction, cliffhanger, denouement, dystopian, epilogue, essay, fantasy, fiction, food, health, historical fiction, history, horror, interlude, magical realism, memoir, mystery, nonfiction, part one, play, plot twist, poetry, politics, prequel, prologue, resolution, reveal, romance, saga, science, science fiction, self-help, sequel, subplot, technology, thriller, travel, trilogy, true crime, westerns, young adult

Cleats

celebrity, FIFA, football, how-to, interview, MLS, movie review, NWSL, Premier League, product review, records, World Cup

Confessions

bad habits, childhood, dating, embarrassment, family, friendship, humanity, school, secrets, stream of consciousness, taboo, teenage years, workplace

Criminal Community

Book Review, Capital Punishment, Cartel, Celebrities, Fact or Fiction, Fiction, Guilty, How-to, Incarceration, Innocence, Interview, Investigation, Jury, Mafia, Movie Review, Photography, Product Review, Racial Profiling, Travel, TV Review

Critique

Art, Character Development, Dialogue, Draft, Essay, Feedback Requested, Fiction, Manuscript, Movie, Music, Nonfiction, Novel, Outline, Pacing, Play, Plot Development, Poetry, Proofreading, Revision, Screenplay, Setting, Structure, Television, Theme

Earth

advocacy, climate, humanities, nature, science, short story, sustainability

Education

Book Review, Bullying, College, Courses, Degree, High School, How To, Interview, List, Movie Review, Pop Culture, Product Review, STEM, Student, Teacher, Trade School, Travel, Vintage, Vocal

Families

Adoption, Advice, Art, Book Reviews, Celebrities, Children, Divorce, DIY, Extended Family, Factual Fiction, Feature, Foster, Grandparents, Grief, Holiday, How-To, Humanity, Immediate Family, Interview, LGBTQ, Lists, Literature, Married, Movie Review, Parents, Pop Culture, Pregnancy, Product Review, Satire, Siblings, Single, Social Media, Travel, TV Review, Values, Vintage

Feast

art, book review, celebrity, cuisine, DIY, fact or fiction, feature, GMO, healthy, history, holiday, how-to, humanity, interview, list, literature, movie review, organic, photography, pop culture, product review, quote, recipe, restaurant, satire, science, social media, travel, TV review, vegan, vegetarian, vintage

Fiction

Adventure, Classical, Excerpt, Fable, Family, Fanfiction, Fantasy, Historical, Holiday, Horror, Humor, Love, Microfiction, Mystery, Psychological, Satire, Sci-Fi, Script, Series, Short Story, Stream of Consciousness, Thriller, Young Adult

Filthy

Advice, Advocacy, Art, Athletics, Beauty, Bob Guccione, Body Modification, Buyers' Guide, Celebrities, Comedy, Conventions, DIY, Erotic, Fact or Fiction, Fashion, Feature, Feminism, Fetishes, Fiction, Food, Geek, How-To, Humanities, Industry, Interview, LGBTQ, Lingerie, Lists, Literature, Movie Review, NSFW, Penthouse, Photography, Poetry, Politics, Pop Culture, Pornstar, Product Review, Quizzes, Quotes, Relationships, Religion, Roleplay, Satire, Science, Sex Toys, Sexual Wellness, Social Media, Taboo, Tech, Travel, TV Review, Vintage, Virtuoso

Futurism

Anime, Apparel, Art, AI, Astronomy, Body Modification, Book Review, Buyer's Guide, Celebrities, Comedy, Conventions, DIY, Dune, Evolution, Extraterrestrial, Fact and Fiction, Fact or Fiction, Fantasy, Feature, Food, Future, Games, Habitat, How-To, Humanity, Intellect, Interview, Lists, Literature, Mature, Movie Review, Opinion, Photography, Poetry, Pop Culture, Product Review, Psychology, Quote, Religion, Satire, Science, Science Fiction, Sci-Fi Movies, Sci-Fi TV, Social Media, Space, Star Trek, Star Wars, Tech, Transhumanism, Travel, TV Review, Vintage, Virtuoso

FYI

Historical, Humanity, Mysteries, Pop Culture, Science, Local

Gamers

action-adventure, adventure game, arcade, art, celebrity, cheat, combat, console, esports, fact or fiction, feature, first-person shooter, gear, handheld, horror, how-to, interview, list, MMO, mobile, movie review, new releases, Nintendo, PC, PlayStation, product review, puzzle, racing, real-time strategy, RPG, satire, tabletop, vintage, VR, walkthrough, women, Xbox

Geeks

apparel, art, beauty, celebrity, collectibles, comedy, comics, convention, cosplay, entertainment, factor fiction, fan fiction, feature, gaming, how-to, humanity, industry, interview, lists, literature, mature, movie, photography, pop culture, product review, quote, review, satire, social media, steampunk, superheroes, travel, TV, vintage, zombies

History

Analysis, Ancient, Biographies, Books, Discoveries, Events, Fiction, Figures, General, Lessons, Medieval, Modern, Narrative, Perspective, Places, Research, Trivia, World History

Horror

art, book review, celebrities, fiction, footage, Halloween, how-to, interview, monster, movie review, pop culture, psychological, slasher, supernatural, travel, TV review, urban legend, vintage

Human

advice, art, book review, breakup, celebrities, dating, divorce, DIY, fact or fiction, family, feature, friendship, how-to, humanities, humor, interview, LGBTQ, miss, literature, love, marriage, movie review, photography, pop culture, product review, quotes, review, satire, science, single, social media, stream of consciousness, travel, TV review, vintage

Humor

comedians, comedic timing, comedy club, comedy specials, comedy writing, comic relief, fantasy, funny, general, hilarious, improv, irony, joke, laughter, parody, roast, sarcasm, satire, satirical, sketches, stand-up, vocal, wit

Interview

actors, authors, celebrities, creators, documentaries, filmmakers, heroes, humanity, musicians, photographers, podcasts, thought leaders, vocal

Journal

advice, apparel, art, blingo, book review, business, business awards, career, celebrities, criminals, decor, economy, fact or fiction, feature, heroes and villains, history, how-to, humanity, humor, industry, interview, list, literature, movie review, nsfw, photography, politics, pop culture, product review, quotes, religion, satire, social media, travel, TV review, vintage, vocal, Wall Street, workflow

Lifehack

book reviews, clothing, crafts, food, garden, health, how-to, lists, photography, pop culture, product reviews, school, social media, tech, travel, vintage

Longevity

advice, aging, art, athletics, beauty, body, celebrity, decor, diet, DIY, fact or fiction, fashion, feature, fitness, grief, health, how-to, humanity, humor, industry, interview, lifestyle, list, literature, longevity magazine, meditation, mental health, movie review, organic, photography, pop culture, product review, psychology, quote, satire, science, self-care, sexual wellness, social media, spirituality, travel, vintage, weight loss, wellness, yoga

Marriage

bridal party, ceremonial reception, fashion and beauty, food and drinks, gifts and registry, groom, LGBTQ, proposal, rings, travel, wedding invitations

Men

brotherhood, culture, empowerment, fatherhood, general, health, inspiration, issues, lifestyle, manhood, masculinity, men's perspective, wisdom

Motivation

advice, book review, celebrities, goals, happiness, healing, holiday, how-to, interview, movie review, product review, quotes, self-help, social media, success, vocal

Pet Life

adoption, art, bird, book reviews, breed, cat, celebrities, DIY, dog, exotic pets, pet, fact or fiction, feature, ferret, fish, frog, grooming, guinea pig, hamster, health, hedgehog, horse, how-to, humanity, interview, list, literature, lizard, movie review, pet food, photography, pop culture, product review, quote, rabbit, review, satire, science, snake, social media, therapy, toys, training, travel, TV review, vet, vintage, wild animals

Photography

art, camera, career, editing, film, how-to, interview, lenses, product review, vintage

Poetry

acrostic, art, ballad, blackout, book review, buyer's guide, celebrity, children's poetry, cinquain, ekphrastic, elegy, excerpts, fact or fiction, family, filthy, first draft, for fun, free verse, friendship, gratitude, haiku, heartbreak, holiday, how-to, humor, inspirational, memoir, myth, love poems, mental health, nature poetry, ode, pantoum, performance poetry, prose, request feedback, sad poetry, senryu, sestina, slam poetry, social commentary, song lyrics, sonnet, stream of consciousness, surreal poetry, villanelle, vintage

Potent

Art, Beauty, Book Review, Celebrities, Collectibles, Cooking, Culture, Doctor Fiction, Feature, Growing, Health, History, How-To, Humanities, Humor, Industry, Interview, Lists, Literature, Marijuana Minute, Mature, Movie Review, Mushrooms, Photography, Politics, Pop Culture, Product Review, Quote, Satire, Science, Social Media, Strains, TV Review, Vintage, Virtuosos

Pride

advocacy, community, culture, empowerment, fiction, history, humanity, identity, poetry, pop culture, Pride Month, relationships

Proof

ABV, alcohol, art, bars, bartenders, beer, book review, celebrity, cocktails, distillery, DIY, fact or fiction, feature, gin, history, holiday, how-to, humanity, interview, list, literature, margarita, martini, mezcal, movie review, photography, pop culture, product review, prohibition, quote, review, rum, satire, science, social media, tavern, tequila, travel, vineyard, vintage, vodka, whiskey, wine

Psyche

addiction, advice, anxiety, art, bipolar, book review, celebrities, coping, depression, disorder, eating, family, how-to, humanity, interview, list, medicine, movie review, panic attacks, personality disorders, photography, pop culture, product review, PTSD, recovery, schizophrenia, self-care, social media, stigma, support, therapy, trauma, treatment, TV review, vintage, work

Serve

Air Force, Army, Art, Book Reviews, Career, Celebrities, Coast Guard, Education, Fact or Fiction, Family, Fitness, Gear, History, How-To, Interview, Lists, Marine Corps, Movie Review, Navy, Photography, Pop Culture, Product Review, Quotes, Satire, Travel, TV Review, Veteran, Vintage

Styled

celebrity looks, deals, designers, entertainment, footwear, industry, men, models and influencers, shopping, shows, tips, trends, women

The Chain

altcoins, bitcoin, blockchain, book review, Ethereum, HODL, ICO, mining, NFT, product review, smart contracts, tokens, wallets

The Swamp

activism, agriculture, art, book reviews, celebrity, congress, controversies, corruption, cybersecurity, defense, education, energy, fact or fiction, features, finance, history, how-to, humanity, interview, legislation, list, literature, movie review, new world order, opinion, photography, politicians, politics, pop culture, president, quotes, review, satire, social media, supreme court, technology, trade, transportation, travel, Trump, TV review, vintage, voting, white house, women in politics

Trader

advice, career, economy, fintech, history, investing, personal finance, product review, stocks

Unbalanced

baseball, basketball, culture, cycling, fighting, football, hockey, product review

Viva

activism, art, beauty, body, book review, career, celebrity, fact or fiction, family, fashion, feminism, fitness, gender roles, health, history, how-to, interview, LGBTQIA, list, movie review, photography, politics, pop culture, product review, relationships, satire, travel, TV review, vintage

Wander

Activities, Africa, Airlines, America, Art, Asia, Australia, Book Reviews, Budget Travel, Canada, Caribbean, Celebrity, Central America, Couples Travel, Culture, DIY, Europe, Fact or Fiction, Family Travel, Feature, Female Travel, Guide, How-To, Humanity, Humor, Interview, LGBT Travel, List, Literature, Middle East, Movie Reviews, Nature, New Zealand, Photography, Pop Culture, Product Review, Quote, Review, That Type, Social Media, Solo Travel, South America, Student Travel, Travel Advice, Travel Gear, Travel Lists, Travel Photography, Travel Tips, Vintage, Volunteer Travel

Wheel

Art, Book Review, Telephony, Design, Electric, Fact or Fiction, Feature, Gadgets, How-To, Industry, Interview, Lists, Motorsports, Movie Review, Photography, Pop Culture, Product Review, Racing, Self-Driving, Social Media, Travel, TV Review, Vintage

Writers

Achievement, Advice, Challenge, Community, Guide, Inspiration, Interviews, Life, Process, Prompts, Publishing, Resources, Shoutout, Stream of Consciousness, Vocal, Writer's Block, Writing Exercise

After reading through the full list, the core problem should be obvious. To be fair, the system is so convoluted that by the time I finished compiling everything, I may have missed a tag, misplaced one, or misspelled something along the way. That alone says a lot. Even with that possibility, the larger problem is still plain enough: the structure is messy, inconsistent, and far harder to use than it should be.

It is many bad habits happening at once.

1. The platform keeps mixing subject tags with format tags. A writer is not just being asked what the article is about. Writers are also being asked whether it is a list, interview, review, how-to, feature, or guide. Those are different kinds of classification and they should not all be doing the same job in the same slot.
2. The platform uses vague filler tags everywhere. Humanity, general, life, feature, culture, vintage, and Vocal keep appearing across communities where they clarify almost nothing. A tag should narrow meaning, not blur it.
3. There is duplication all over the place. Satire and satirical. List, lists, and travel lists. Review, book review, movie review, TV review, and product review. Advice, how-to, guide, tips, and resources. A clean system does not keep making writers choose between near-clones.
4. Some tags look unclear, sloppy, or editorially random. Blingo. Virtuoso. Longevity magazine, and others. Even if there is an internal explanation for some of them, the writer-facing system should not feel like a puzzle.
5. The specificity is uneven. Some tags are very broad, then suddenly one is hyper-specific. One political community, The Swamp, has Trump as a named politician tag while not doing the same for Biden or other presidents. That is not a balanced taxonomy. It is an inconsistent one. Marriage is not even really about marriage as such. It is mostly wedding planning. That may seem minor, but it is exactly the kind of mismatch that makes the platform harder to use.
6. Some communities are named for style rather than clarity. There is nothing wrong with branding until branding gets in the way of usability. Once that happens, the writer has to translate the platform before publishing on it. That is backwards.

But this is also fixable.

The first and best solution would be to simplify the communities and let writers add their own tags. Keep moderation standards, obviously. Nobody is asking for chaos. But a writer should be able to choose a practical community and then enter tags that actually match the article they just wrote. That would immediately make the platform more intuitive and more useful.

If Vocal does not want fully open tags, there is still a better middle ground than what exists now.

• Keep the communities.
• Keep a smaller and cleaner official tag set.
• Remove duplicates.
• Remove filler.
• Remove platform-clutter tags that do not help classification.
• Remove vague labels that do not sort anything.
• Then allow each writer to add a few custom tags on top of the official ones.

That would improve the experience almost overnight.

The community names also need a reset or total purge and rebuild. Writers do not need branding exercises when they are trying to categorize a piece. They need plain language. If a category is really about politics, call it politics. If it is really about pets, call it pets. If it is really about tech, call it tech. If it is really about travel, call it travel. The current approach makes too many writers stop and interpret the platform before they can publish to it.

None of this is written as a hit piece against Vocal. I really enjoy writing here. I just want it to work better for me and the other platform writers.

That is the point of this article.

A good platform should reduce friction at the moment of publishing, not introduce it. It should help writers feel oriented, not mildly lost. It should make discovery stronger, not weaker. And if Vocal wants to attract more serious writers and keep them, the community and tag system needs to become more practical, more transparent, and far less cluttered.

The writing is already the hard part, so categorizing should not feel harder than writing it.