Say Ello To The Future…
Well Perhaps Not Anytime Soon…
The last days for Facebook seem like such a distant dream to most of us. We who long for the next great thing to sweep us off our feet. Unfortunately, We are so stuck in the comfort of Facebook because it is something that entire families and friend groups are attached too. Hell, I can’t even catch up on anything locally in my town without the help of Facebook.
Anytime I want to go to a local show or find out what is going on that night. I must go to facebook and look it up. Part of the reason I am not dropping it right now is because of family and the prospect of future contacts that I must be as accessible as I can be. For instance, I wouldn’t have been able to make all the music connections without it and be able to instantly establish a personal connection with the musicians and artist I have now come to admire and bond with.
Ello, this new budding social network, is wearing its best David costume to fight against the Goliath that is Facebook. Sure this thing is invite only but the prospect of an anti-facebook that is ad free caught many internet users attention. Many doubt the long term accomplishments of Ello. I believe that the initial buzz about Ello separates itself from other attempts to take out Twitter and Facebook, such as App.net attempted to do. Sadly, developers of App.net are focusing on other projects at the time being leaving it lie dormant.
Ello is different. There is some great ideas that the Developers at Ello are putting into fruition that I wish Twitter would have. The most noticable tool that really sells Ello to me is the Friend/Noise options. I can keep the people I truly care for or those I enjoy reading content of on a daily basis on the friend tab. If I want more of a dynamic view of those I follow, I can organize them into the Noise catagory. Noise can also be called a “Fluff” section to keep all the not so important followers you don’t want to read about often there. Friends/Noise blend the intimacy of Facebook with the globalization of Twitter.
The Team of Ello also seem to realize the rising trend of gifs and want to make Ello as accessable and easy to express whatever the user desires. Facebook, Twitter, and even Tumblr do an aweful job with any kind of media. Any kind of post outside of a text post is a super clunky interface to do something that I would figure 2014 would have fixed by now. Ello tries to simplify that and make it all within the “Status Update” or Say Ello… section.
Many question the longevity of Ello. They wonder how will they keep up with its pledge to stay ad free. Twitter and Facebook were originally ad free but as big business grows so does the responsibilities that come along them. It was only natural for them to find a way to monetize off their product. What I really hope for is that Ello takes in any venture capital they are offered and make a business plan that involves paid services. Like with App.net and their monthly fee to use the service was a great and valid option for those who desire an ad free social network.
There are still some long strides for Ello to make it. Ello has the attention of the internet community far and wide. No matter the criticisms, I can believe that everyone is at least rooting and encouraging the effort toward ending ads on the web and pushing for a new business model on advertisements on the internet. Ello isn’t the first but perhaps they may have quite a path paved out for future endeavors to begin.
