Why Ello Will Eventually Sell Out, Like Everyone Else
Meet Ello. Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the last few days, you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about. The new, so-called ‘beautiful’ and ‘ethical’ social network which, unlike its counterparts, says it will never use ads. I, of course, was one of the first people to hear about it, and anyone who says I was clueless just hours ago is a total liar. Obviously. But whilst Ello appears all shiny and new at the moment, now that I’ve got my coveted invite (thanks, Twitter randomer), I’m starting to see the flaws already.
Sure, Ello may well be driven in success right now by a multitude of factors, including just the very fact that it’s brand new, and free. Especially in the Digital community, there’s a certain element of puffing up in pride to be relished in, because it’s also highly exclusive. There are also whispers that members of the LGBT community are attempting to sign up in droves, because of Facebook’s arguably less than inclusive policies of late. Unlike Facebook, you can select a username on Ello (so if you’re someone ‘famous’ or whatever, you should probably snap yours up now!). Both of these reasons are fair enough, but it’s only going to work if eventually, everyone gets on board.
So then what? First of all, let’s just take a second to talk about the interface. What even is this? It’s been giving me a headache and I’ve only been on for about an hour. I know this sounds like a typical response to something I just don’t understand, but really. It isn’t anything special. It looks like their ‘simplistic’ selling point might in actuality be overcomplicating itself. I’m also getting terrible flashbacks to ‘Circles’ on Google+ (you know, the last big thing…) when they start talking about ‘Friends’ vs ‘Noise’. I’ll play nice: I do quite like the ‘WTF’ feature. At first, my literal first impression was ‘WTF is WTF’, but it actually gives you some handy hints as to what the hell you’re doing on there.
On that note, I should arguably give it some time, right? I kind of just really, really don’t want to. I’m over the whole gloating thing now, and I’m left with a network which none of my actual friends can use. They’re being VERY selective with invites. Not very social when I’m talking to myself now, is it?!
And, while we’re on it, let’s just stop with the sickly sweetness, okay, Ello? You may claim that your “entire structure is based around a no-ad and no data-mining policy” and that “[q]uite frankly, were we to break this commitment, we would lose most of the Ello community.”, but how do you intend to make money? I appreciate that you’ve covered this by discussing some extra features that users can pay for, but you’re probably not quite the innocent party here.
You may not use advertisements, but that’s what they all say, at first. Look at MySpace. Facebook. Instagram… need I continue? Ello absolutely swears that isn’t what they’ll do, but who knows? Brands and even consumers pretty much rely on social advertising in today’s digital sphere – it’s how we know who and what to trust, whether you like it or not. We’re not even judging.
If you’re looking for an alternative outlet for your Facebook addiction, keep searching. If you ask me, Ello is the anti-Facebook. Maybe it’ll grow on me – watch this space. However, like those teenagers who deactivate their accounts to get away from the ‘drama’, we’ll all be running back. No matter how you feel about it, Facebook will never die. Which is pretty good news for people like us here at Datify… we quite like the ads after all!