Over the last week, an independent social network called Ello went viral. The social network which is dubbed as being anti-Facebook is ad-free and strictly by invite is fast gaining a reputation. This sounds rather ironic as you have to receive an invite to the service before you can be on Ello.
Ello was founded by Budnitz and has been around since March when it was officially launched and faced an unimpressive reception. It’s a bit puzzling how much attention and popularity the social network seems to be attracting now, my guess is it has something to do with the recent firestorm caused by Facebook’s alleged ‘’real name policy’’.
The Facebook policy has been in place for a while. It requires all users to use their legal names as their profile names on the social network. The policy came under the radar earlier in September when some users got locked out of their accounts for not using their legal names.
This affected some users in the United States and attracted the attention of several San Francisco city officials who had to schedule a meeting at the Facebook headquarters to settle the controversy. Facebook temporarily agreed to restore the accounts to the individuals affected by the policy but refused to change or revoke the ‘’real name’’ policy.
This showdown made some of those unhappy Facebook users move over to Ello, which allows users to identify themselves by any name they want.
“Your social network is owned by advertisers. Every post you share, every friend you make and every link you follow is tracked, recorded and converted into data. Advertisers buy your data so they can show you more ads. You are the product that’s bought and sold. We believe there is a better way. We believe in audacity. We believe in beauty, simplicity and transparency. We believe that the people who make things and the people who use them should be in partnership. We believe a social network can be a tool for empowerment, not a tool to deceive, coerce, and manipulate — but a place to connect, create, and celebrate life. You are not a product.” Ello’s manifesto proclaims.
Ello lacks a bit of originality as it looks more like a cross between Twitter and Tumblr but with more limited features. It offers the basic features any social network would – users can post status updates, upload photos and comment on things their friends’ post. There is a search bar where users can find people they know.
The creators are working on including a mobile app with more privacy settings to the long list of new features they intend to introduce. However, when these updates would be effected is uncertain.
Notwithstanding, Ello has received massive popularity as the social network is said to receive between 4,000 and 30,000 requests per hour. The network received so many requests that it had to temporarily limit users’ abilities to send invites on September 25th.