“Hi, Who is it?”
“We're not sure, but would you like to request an invite?”
Ello, a
new social network, has attracted the attention all across the internet this past week. What
is this site? From what I can tell, this is an invite only site that
incorporates elements of Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr but with more bugs
and less features. The site has been called the “anti-Facebook” and it appears
the main difference appears to be the exclusivity of the site, which is attracting
many users. The site received more requests than it could even process in the
past week; however the site has been launched since last March. Some believe
the recent popularity is due to Facebook’s recent “real name policy”. The policy requires users
to have accounts with their legal names and automatically deactivated many
false accounts recently. This policy has been bashed by many in the LGBT
community after many activists are speaking out about drag performers losing
access to their accounts that did not use their legal names. Many LBGT
community members are turning to Ello where there is not yet a policy
restricting the name on an account.
How do users know if Ello is the
next big thing or just a fad? I have yet to learn of any redeeming qualities of
the site that are not already available via existing and more widely used social sites. Invites to this new
site are being sold on eBay and some people are paying hundreds of dollars just to
be a part of the site. Ello has released a list of potential new features and
planned updates however no time line for these changes has been announced.
It seems
like there are always social sites claiming to be “the next Facebook”. It will
be interesting to see how Ello progresses. I believe the site’s success
depends on the next few moves. The lack of a “real name policy” as well as the
invite only access and ad free network all have attracted a large group of users. However, to
attract more users the site will need to appeal to a larger audience or meet the needs of a niche market. I think
Ello needs to quickly determine whether or not the site wants to appeal to the
same diverse and mass demographic group as Facebook or continue with the “anti-Facebook”
vibe.
Currently, I see no appeal for a college student to be on the site, which
was the first and primary target market when Facebook launched. On one hand, I
don’t think Ello should try to follow in the footsteps of Facebook, especially
if the site is trying to actually be the “anti-Facebook”. On the other hand though,
Ello needs to establish and convey a unique feature, appeal, or specific target
market to differentiate from Facebook soon, or risk being known as the invite
only but less capable Facebook.
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