Ello publicly launched in August to much fanfare, hailed as a
game-changing “anti-Facebook.” The idealistic “Ello Manifesto” put out by
developers was widely praised, but seems more like saber-rattling given the
social media site’s current state.
Your social network is owned by advertisers.
The use of “owned” here is questionable.
Assuming the definition of social network being used here refers to my
family, friends, and coworkers, this statement feels very heavy. If the writers are referring to the websites
I use, then the statement becomes more accurate. Facebook is very much controlled by
advertisers.
Every post you share, every friend you make and every link you follow is tracked, recorded and converted into data.
All true. Of course, by using
browser extensions like Ghostery, Adblock, and opting out wherever possible,
this can be mitigated.
Advertisers buy your data so they can show you more ads. You are the product that’s bought and sold.
Technically, I (or any individual reading this) am not the product being
bought or sold. I am one thousandth of a
product. Advertisers buy packages of data
usually by the thousand. According to
the Financial Times, my data is worth roughly $0.1247.
We believe there is a better way. We believe in audacity. We believe in beauty, simplicity and transparency. We believe that the people who make things and the people who use them should be in partnership.
And this is where it completely falls apart. As of three weeks ago, Ello’s userbase was
doubling about every
other day. For the most part, the
cost of operation will scale linearly with the number of users.
Presently, Ello is operated entirely on venture capital. The developers have not placed advertisements on the website, and are not selling user information. They claim that while every other social network that launched ad-free has relented (Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr and more), they never will. Instead, their sole form of income will be selling additional features.
Interestingly, Ello isn’t using a subscription model. LinkedIn offers premium subscriptions that include additional features to make profiles more noticeable and give users metrics on who’s looking at them, a boon for job searchers. Ello intends to sell its features à la carte, with no details as to pricing, what features, or when they will be available. Rather than pushing a subscription which can scare off new users (The network’s value and usefulness is the square of its users). There’s presently plenty of room for expansion, seeing as right now it has considerably less functionality than the sites it will supposedly bring down. There is no chat and private messages have yet to be implemented. Profile customization is limited to an avatar and a cover image. While I would happily pay $5 to change the background of the page from a blinding #FFFFFF white, there will need to be a lot of game-changers that each user will want to pay for.
Presently, Ello is operated entirely on venture capital. The developers have not placed advertisements on the website, and are not selling user information. They claim that while every other social network that launched ad-free has relented (Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr and more), they never will. Instead, their sole form of income will be selling additional features.
Interestingly, Ello isn’t using a subscription model. LinkedIn offers premium subscriptions that include additional features to make profiles more noticeable and give users metrics on who’s looking at them, a boon for job searchers. Ello intends to sell its features à la carte, with no details as to pricing, what features, or when they will be available. Rather than pushing a subscription which can scare off new users (The network’s value and usefulness is the square of its users). There’s presently plenty of room for expansion, seeing as right now it has considerably less functionality than the sites it will supposedly bring down. There is no chat and private messages have yet to be implemented. Profile customization is limited to an avatar and a cover image. While I would happily pay $5 to change the background of the page from a blinding #FFFFFF white, there will need to be a lot of game-changers that each user will want to pay for.
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.
Empowerment is a strong word, especially when used to describe what is
currently an ugly twitter clone.
You are not a product.
Facebook, Google, and Amazon have made me not so sure about that, and Ello
is unlikely to make a difference.
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