In case you missed the buzz last fall, Ello is the newest network in the social media neighborhood. What is it?
“Ello is a simple, beautiful, and ad-free social network created by a small group of artists and designers. We originally built Ello as a private social network. Over time, so many people wanted to join Ello that we built a public version of Ello for everyone to use.”
Did you catch the “ad-free social network” part?
There’s no advertising! Ello, a Vermont startup, is a State of Delaware Public Benefit Corporation (PBC), meaning that it is “a for-profit company operating to produce a benefit for society as a whole.” Sounds noble, doesn’t it?
In fact, check out its charter:
- Sell user-specific data to a third party;
- Enter into an agreement to display paid advertising on behalf of a third party; and
- In the event of an acquisition or asset transfer, the Company shall require any acquiring entity to adopt these requirements with respect to the operation of Ello or its assets.
(“Pecuniary?” I had to look that one up – “of or relating to money.”)
So, the big question… is it worth joining?
There are mixed reviews on it.
In a recent post on MarketingProfs, James McAllister says, “General consensus leads us to believe that their audience is mostly made up of early adopters, social media-savvy individuals, and those who have shunned the current paid advertising regime that exists on other social platforms, such as Twitter and Facebook.”
Because Ello is by invitation only (you can request one), “this limited audience means that many small business marketers may find that their target audience only exists in small, sporadic groups on Ello,” adds McAllister.
He also states that, “It may take off in a huge way and change the face of social media marketing forever; it may fizzle out and prove to be nothing more than a fad. it could fall anywhere in between.”
Josh Constine at TechCrunch isn’t optimistic. “Already-forgotten, anti-Facebook social network Ello today launched the ability to share music and video clips in its feed, but that won’t matter. Here in September gone in September, Ello hoped to dethrone Facebook by … not having ads. But while hipsters had fun hating on Zuck’s creation for a few days, they all went back to it and promptly ditched Ello. Now it’s left with $5.5 million squeezed out of some gullible investors and no reason to exist.”
Ouch!
Scott Kleinberg at the Chicago Tribune advises, “Nothing wrong with signing up for Ello or anything else just to see what all the talk is about, but I wouldn’t bother if you have no plans to stay. Alternatively, if you aren’t sure right now, you can sign up and claim your name and go back later.”
Funny thing is that there hasn’t been much news about Ello since last fall. It will be interesting to see what becomes of the network in 2015.
BTW, my Ello profile is here.
So, have you joined yet? Are you planning to join?
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