What’s so special about VOO?

I’m new to stocks. Every day when I look at post comments, I see people recommending VOO. I’m not sure how you do it, but to find a good stock in my opinion, I look at the data and how much it’s gone up in the past weeks and months. Look at the dividend rate and make sure it’s decent (I usually look for 3% or higher) and what the company does overall. I looked at VOO and it it hasn’t been doing good in the past few weeks, but in the last 6 months it’s gone up more then 10%! The dividend is okay, and I briefly researched on the company and I’m not exactly sure what it really is, though because of how much it’s gone up in the past 6 months, I’m assuming it’s a risky stock. Would love if someone could tell me what’s really special about VOO and how they pick stocks. Thanks!