Presenting Ello - The Latest Social Media Sensation!

Ello is a “Simple, Beautiful, and Ad free network” according to its website.

Clearly taking a dig at Facebook and Twitter’s data selling practice, Ello states on its manifesto that its users are not products, and that Ello is a place to connect, create and celebrate life. So, with many out there calling it anti-Facebook and the next big thing in Social Networking, we aim to deconstruct the drama for you.

Here’s what really happened:

Thanks to Facebook for enforcing the real names policy, many users, especially belonging to the LGBTQ community started flocking to Ello, which doesn’t require users to reveal their real identities; a place where they felt safer and free.

Let’s look at the positives first -

Ello also doesn’t track user activities. It collects information it considers important to understand how people use the network only, and not to sell it. Also, all information collected is made anonymous and therefore not traceable to a single user. Ello also allows users to opt out of providing any information at all. Users can choose not to use their real names. They can enjoy uninterrupted social networking without the annoyance of ads.

So how does the social network still in its diapers, plan to earn revenue to keep it running? By offering paid add-on features, they say.

And the not-so-nice stuff -

As of now, people can join Ello by invite only. If you know anyone on Ello, ask them to send you an invite or request one from Ello by visiting the Ello website. Ello has quite a few features, being in its preliminary stage. One of these features is the option to sort your followers into ‘friends’ and ‘noise’ which is great for people who know a lot of people but don’t necessarily like all of them. But since at the moment Ello is by invite only, not many people you know are actually on the network itself. Speaking about lacking features, Ello doesn’t allow you to block abusive users yet, but is apparently working on it.

So what is making people desert the more popular Facebook and Twitter ships in favor of this renegade social network?

Maybe it’s the growing dissatisfaction we have towards current social networking sites and the excitement of something new that is drawing us in. Maybe it’s the belief that this new social network might actually become what it claims. Its a convincing manifesto, and not because it is actually better than any other social network.

So will it be the next big thing? It’s too early to comment on that. But it definitely is nice to believe that there’s something good and clean and that’s for the people, and don’t we all want something to hope for?

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