The latest online buzz around a social media network is over Ello, an invitation-only niche site that recently set tongues wagging, although it seems to have launched a few months ago.
The new site has gone viral, with as many as 30 000 reportedly signing up per hour as unhappiness over Facebook's policies grows. The Ello site styles itself as a "simple, beautiful, and ad-free social network created by a small group of artists and designers". It was started as a private social network, but went public because of demand to join.
Ello, a niche platform, has also taken a stab at Facebook's operating model, saying it doesn't sell adverts, nor does it sell data to third parties. "Virtually every other social network is run by advertisers. Behind the scenes they employ armies of ad salesmen and data miners to record every move you make. Data about you is then auctioned off to advertisers and data brokers. You're the product that's being bought and sold."
Swift Consulting CEO and tech blogger Liron Segev notes when people think of social media, they tend to think of big names such as Facebook, Twitter, and Google+. However, there are many more offerings out there that may not be as well known.
Although Ello is yet another offering, it is community-based by virtue of its invitation-only status, says Segev. He notes social media has been predicted to move from being catch-all sites to niche ones, and this is the start of that evolution.
By being invitation-only, Ello has immediately made itself "cool", although it lacks a business model, says Segev. "People are clamouring for those invites."
Segev adds social media based on a genre has a pull, but will not lead to a wholesale departure from Facebook as people still want to stay connected to larger bases. He notes these new types of networking sites fill a gap, and compete with sites such as LinkedIn more than Facebook because they join people with specific interests together.
Meanwhile, Google has abandoned the requirement that people sign up for its social media site when signing up for new accounts, leading to speculation it may kill off that arm.
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