Ello (social network)
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Ello is an online social networking service created by Paul Budnitz and Todd Berger in March 2014. It was created as an ad-free alternative to existing
social networks A social network is a social structure made up of a set of social actors (such as individuals or organizations), sets of dyadic ties, and other social interactions between actors. The social network perspective provides a set of methods for a ...
. It has pivoted from its earlier
Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin Mosk ...
-like incarnation toward a
Pinterest Pinterest is an American image sharing and social media service designed to enable saving and discovery of information (specifically "ideas") on the internet using images, and on a smaller scale, animated GIFs and videos, in the form of pinboard ...
-like website showcasing art, photography, fashion and web culture. The Ello service claims several notable distinguishing intentions as a social network such as never selling user data to advertisers or third parties, never showing advertisements, and not enforcing a real-name policy. In 2018, Ello was acquired by Talenthouse.


History

Ello began as a private social network consisting of seven artists and programmers. After a year of the social network being private, the creators redesigned the website and launched Ello to the public. Seed funding of $435,000 from the venture capital investor FreshTracks Capital in January 2014 helped sustain the company initially. This decision earned some criticism when the network achieved wider popularity. Ello launched on March 19, 2014, complete with a manifesto that claimed to distinguish it from other
social network A social network is a social structure made up of a set of social actors (such as individuals or organizations), sets of dyadic ties, and other social interactions between actors. The social network perspective provides a set of methods for ...
s like Facebook. The site promised it would never sell user data, proclaiming "You Are Not a Product". The social network service officially launched on April 3, although membership registration was only by invitation. Ello gained added attention in September 2014, when numerous members of the
LGBTQ ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term is ...
community left Facebook following the controversial enforcement of its real-name policy, thought to be intended to exclude
drag queen A drag queen is a person, usually male, who uses drag clothing and makeup to imitate and often exaggerate female gender signifiers and gender roles for entertainment purposes. Historically, drag queens have usually been gay men, and part of ...
s in
San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...
. At its peak, the social network was processing more than 30,000 signup requests an hour. It is estimated that 20% of sign ups remain active on the site one week after registration. In October 2014, Ello reorganized itself as a
benefit corporation In the United States, a benefit corporation (or in several jurisdictions including Delaware, a public-benefit corporation or PBC) is a type of for-profit corporate entity, authorized by 35 U.S. states and the District of Columbia, that includ ...
and raised a further $5.5 million in
venture capital Venture capital (often abbreviated as VC) is a form of private equity financing that is provided by venture capital firms or funds to start-up company, startups, early-stage, and emerging companies that have been deemed to have high growth poten ...
. In 2015 Ello launched its iPhone app, which has many similarities to the original website, including format. In 2016, ''
Wired ''Wired'' (stylized as ''WIRED'') is a monthly American magazine, published in print and online editions, that focuses on how emerging technologies affect culture, the economy, and politics. Owned by Condé Nast, it is headquartered in San ...
'' writer Charley Locke noted that the user base of Ello has shifted from early adopters of new social media to artists and other creative people. In 2018, Talenthouse acquired Ello for an undisclosed amount.


Features

Ello has several features already built, including an emoji autocomplete,
NSFW Not safe for work (NSFW) is Internet slang or shorthand used to mark links to content, videos, or website pages the viewer may not wish to be seen looking at in a public, formal or controlled environment. The marked content may contain nudity, p ...
settings and hashtag implementation, and is planning on adding others such as private messaging.


Revenue

Ello is free to use, but was exploring a freemium model to finance future activities. It is also selling specially branded T-shirts in a partnership with
Threadless Threadless (stylized as threadless) is an online community of artists and an e-commerce website based in Chicago, Illinois, founded in 2000 by Jake Nickell and Jacob DeHart. Threadless designs are created by and chosen by an online community. E ...
to generate
revenue In accounting, revenue is the total amount of income generated by the sale of goods and services related to the primary operations of the business. Commercial revenue may also be referred to as sales or as turnover. Some companies receive reven ...
. Additionally, the social network introduced a 'Hire Me' button in August 2016, followed by a 'Buy' and 'Collaborate Button' soon after that. The 'Hire Me' and/or 'Collaborate' buttons enable users to be contacted by other community members, to either collaborate or offer their services. The 'Buy button' can be added to any post, and direct towards any online shop where the goods are sold. As such, Ello seemingly chose to turn to the affiliate revenue model to gain income.


Reception

Ello has been criticized for its simple,
minimalist In visual arts, music and other media, minimalism is an art movement that began in post– World War II in Western art, most strongly with American visual arts in the 1960s and early 1970s. Prominent artists associated with minimalism include Do ...
design. Bona Kim of Gizmodo criticized the general bugginess of the website and accused it of trying too hard to look different from its main competitor,
Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin Mosk ...
. One highly positive review expressed concern that Ello "seems fated to become the betamax of social media: superior to its competitor but failing to win popular traction. But it doesn't matter ... A social network doesn’t need approval from ''everyone'' to work."


References

{{Online social networking American photography websites Internet properties established in 2014 Image-sharing websites American social networking websites 2014 establishments in the United States