Paul Budnitz’s greatest incentive to create Ello, the recently popular social network, was to decrease the advertisement that Facebook keeps showing. However, the feature that allowed Ello to get over 4ooo invitation requests (yes! you have to get an invitation in order to access this site) is the freedom for its exclusive users to choose whatever authentic profile represents them.
Many new Ellos users were booted from Facebook for using “unreal” names.
I find Ello to be one great creation. Budnitz hit the spot when he realized that “flaw” that seems to bother many Facebook users: the use of “real names”. It is important to create a specific value for customers and this CEO has that clear. Its conditions and terms clarify that there will not be any collecting nor selling of users’ data, feature that drove many people to already request invitations from Ello website.
Concerning the validation of an authentic profile, Ello has made the most out of Facebook recent break down where he booted some drag queens for using “fake” names that actually are how they define themselves. Ello made a smart move by opening a door to these unsatisfied costumers who felt discriminated against. To allow “unreal names” gave Ello a big fraction of new users. And as Paul Budnitz says and it is easy to see, they are not competing with Facebook.
“You are not a product” is Ello’s biggest catch for new users
I see future for this new social network… by covering flaws that Facebook came to have by going too far with advertisement and by being more opened towards diverse users, Ello has the potential to create its own place in the social media world.
Links:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/kashmirhill/2014/10/01/facebook-vs-ello/