Ello is the name on everyone’s lips—at least this week. Led by drag queens who are fed up with Facebook, the new social network is fielding 31,000 requests an hour, and not just because Twitter users are offering up invites. People on Facebook are talking about Ello. That’s how you know it’s legit.
But Facebook is the network Ello wants to kill. Its manifesto is straightforward: “You are not a product.” Ello is ad-free and doesn’t believe in tracking your activity to sell to advertisers. But that isn’t why Ello is popular. The network is invite-only, which is driving demand. People who have signed up are inviting their friends en masse to make the site worth using. Have we so quickly forgotten Google+ and App.net?
The drag community turned to Ello earlier this month after well-known San Francisco drag performers were caught in Facebook’s algorithm dragnet—or were targeted by online bullies, according to a confession on anonymous app Secret—and were forced to use their legal names. The resulting fall-out included protests, meetings between Facebook and drag queens whose profiles were deleted, and now, a boycott. Ello was selected as an alternative.
But Ello is not the revelatory social network that will finally kill Facebook. It’s a fledgling site with plenty of potential, but Ello won’t be able to coast on the ability to use pseudonyms and its lack of ads for long. The network needs to make five drastic improvements to prove it’s more than just a flash in the pan.
Ello has no privacy settings to speak of. Literally none. All profiles are public. If you’re fleeing Facebook because of confusing privacy settings or because you don’t want people to be able to find you by searching for your real name, Ello is not a den of privacy. Anyone can find you. You can’t block other users, which is an essential feature if you’re trying to create a safe space. Even Twitter, which isn’t exactly known forhelping users deal with harassment, allows blocking. Ello published a list of features it’s working on, which includes private profiles and a block button, but those options should’ve been higher on the priority list.
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