Why Are We Excited About Ello? Because It’s Not Facebook!
By now you have probably heard about the latest and greatest (and perhaps hype?) surrounding the newest social network on the block: Ello. It’s been making the rounds all over our Facebook and Twitter news feeds. Mashable and Techcrunch has been reporting about it repeatedly. It made me wonder what was the big deal.
“Why is everyone so excited about Ello? Simple. Because it’s not Facebook!”
We are all tired of Facebook ads and algorithmic news feeds that don’t really cater to us. They cater to the big Facebook machine. I think the time is prime for something new. Honestly, I have cut back my surf time on Facebook. While I love it for keeping up with friends and family, I prefer engagement on Twitter and Instagram. And I get it. We all have our separate audiences on the various platforms.
Introducing Ello! And Yes, I Wanted To Try The New Kool-Aid.
Why is Ello making a splash? Well according to its website, it is: “Simple, beautiful and ad-free.” I wouldn’t call it beautiful but it is very simple. And ad-free is such a breath of fresh air. I immediately liked the simple. There are no bells and whistles here. We have to remember it’s in beta so it’s not a finished product. I do hope they keep it simplistic.
Here is a snippet showing my profile:
Under each post you can see how many people viewed it and the number of comments:
The Ello Manifesto – What The Founders Say
“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.” Read the entire manifesto here.
Facebook + Twitter + Tumblr = Ello
Everyone is looking for the next big thing in social media. While no one is going to leave Facebook in droves for anything right now, something that is simple to use and without cluttering ads is very interesting and appealing. We are currently seeing early adopters jumping onto Ello to see what the fuss is about. I’m seeing the real innovators and down-to-earth techies kicking the tires. And honestly, a canvas with no ads is so nice.
I think Ello is a place when you want to be between Facebook, Twitter, G+ & Tumblr. And be more social than Medium. 
click to tweet
What are the early adopters saying:
“I love the minimalism and emphasis on compelling visual content (on Ello). I think it may encourage me to get back into photography regularly!” ~Zach Doty
“I like the simplicity. I like that the newsfeed isn’t filtered yet. I like how people engage with me more on it.” ~Errol
“My first thoughts on Ello is that it’s not really a Facebook competitor, but Twitter, Tumbler, and Google+ are the places it’ll sap people from instead.” ~Matt Mastracci
“I like the idea (and simplicity) of the Friends and Noise options. Having more control over who and/or what appears in your newsfeed, as well as how you veiw it, done in as few steps as possible, is something that is missing on the other social networks.” ~Don Harrison
Over To You
I’d love to hear your thoughts about Ello. Are you using it? What do you think so far?