This week, everybody has been talking about Ello, a brand new social network that has been dubbed the “anti-Facebok”. It differentiates itself as being simple, ad free, and “does not sell data about you to third parties”. Since it is in public beta stage, memberships are by invite only. Naturally, I requested my invitation as soon as I heard about it – I needed to know what the fuss was about! After a few days of waiting, I have still yet to receive my invitation, so I can’t comment on the usability of the site. However, I’ve done some snooping around and here’s what I can say about what I’ve seen:

• It’s looks clean.
  There are no ads in the site, which takes away the clutter. There are simple and clean lines, and it’s easy on the eyes. It reminds me a lot of Tumblr, without the customization.
• Everybody on their “featured” list is super artsy.
  From what I’ve seen, the main users of Ello so far are hipsters and artists who post a lot of abstract art or design-related images. In the very least, the images they post are of high quality photography or original-looking artwork. There may be a chance that Ello becomes a popular micro social network for artists and designers.

Verdict: I don’t really like it. Apart from the whole no-ads thing, I don’t think there is enough differentiation on Ello that sets it apart from other social networks. Ello has gained a lot of attention because it has challenged Facebook, but I feel as if most of the people who requested an invitation are curious and in it for the hype. It is the first wave of the next wave of social networks that may eventually bring down Facebook, but Facebook will not be stepping down from its throne anytime soon.