Very Social Network

These Alternatives to Facebook Won't Sell Users' Data

REUTERS - Oct 12 - In 2018, Facebook reported that personal data on 87M users was improperly shared with Cambridge Analytica. According to the Ponemon Institute, trust in Facebook took a 66% plunge in 2018. Here is a list of platforms where users can interact with their friends and family without their data being stolen and stored on huge servers.

• WT: Social: founded by Jimmy Wales, co-founder of Wikipedia, news-focused and free from ads that do not rely on algorithms to fill in top stories and clickbait stories
• Sociall: a new platform similar to other networks with standard features. What sets it apart is its privacy policy. The company does not track users' online activity and doesn't sell users' data to third parties.
• Vero: a social network where users are not bothered by ads; free from data mining and algorithms making it a safer app to use.
• Yubo: a social networking app that does not track its users or throw in ads after every ten seconds. The platform is transparent about its data collecting.
• Ello: an ad-free alternative to existing social networks, similar to a Pinterest-like website showcasing art, photography and fashion.

See full article at The Express Tribune

See the top news on Ello

Ello's Video And Music Launch

TECH CRUNCH - Jan 22 - The anti-Facebook social network today launched the ability to share music and video clips in its feed. Ello hoped to dethrone Facebook by not having ads. But while hipsters had fun hating on Zuck’s creation for a few days, they all went back to it and promptly ditched Ello. Now it’s left with $5.5 million squeezed out of investors and no reason to exist.

by Josh Constine
See full article at Tech Crunch

Can Social Network Ello Stay Ad-free For Long?

CNBC - Jan 2 - Ello, touted as the ad-free alternative to Facebook, is confident that its promise of a non-intrusive social network will be sustainable. Ello's main features will remain free, and the site will sell "special features" that users can consider adding to their accounts, such as video games and services. Analysts are doubtful about the sustainability of this model. "They first have to show they can make a profit this way", said Rob Enderle, principal analyst at Enderle Group. "Eventually the features may look more like fixes for things that should have worked in the first place, and the model [might] collapse." Others have struggled to make a freemium model work, such as Zynga.

by See Kit Tang & Nur Atiqah M. Hatta
See full article at CNBC

Q&A With Ello Founder Paul Budnitz

READ WRITE WEB - Dec 31 - Social network Ello launched in beta in August. The minimalist, invitation-only network has attracted $5.5M in additional venture funding.

Q: How big is the team?
A: It’s about 20.

Q: How has starting Ello been as opposed to starting some of your other businesses, Kidrobot and Budnitz Bicycles?
A: Kidrobot grew over the course of five or six years. It moved much more slowly. The bicycle company is different, it’s made to be a company that’s about quality not quantity. Ello went crazy within a month. We spent zero dollars on marketing.

Q: How did this become something you wanted to do?
A: I had stopped using social networks and most of my friends had as well. I realized over time, that social networks had all been driven by same profit model which was driven by selling ads and personal data. I was hanging out with (Ello co-founders) Todd (Berger) and Lucian (Föhr). We decided to make our own social network. We did it as a design exercise.

Q: What's on tap for 2015?
A: Our mobile app is deep in development. We may come out of beta and the invitation only practice.

by Richard Procter
See full article at ReadWrite

Ello Popularity Declining

THE GUARDIAN - Oct 14 - Interest in Ello seems to be collapsing, according to data from Google Trends. A graph of searches in the past 30 days shows that after an early peak on Sept 26, the number of searches has now declined to a level almost as low as on Sept 23, when the network was just starting to grow.

by Charles Arthur
See full article at The Guardian

Ello's Creator Paul Budnitz

MASHABLE - Oct 2 - From the Budnitz Bicycles shop to Kidrobot designer toys, Paul Budnitz has been blessed and cursed with the compulsion to keep starting new projects. He describes the urge to create a new social network as a long time coming. He couldn't find the right bike for himself, so he built one. He couldn't find the right social network, so he built that too. Budnitz is also more than willing to admit that both of these companies, like most of his business ideas, seem unbelievably stupid early on.

by Seth Fiegerman
See full article at Mashable

31K People An Hour Are Joining Ello

VOX.COM - Sep 27 - A brand-new social networking startup - Ello - has gone viral. The new version of Ello launched in April 2014. The site went viral after the Daily Dot published an article titled "The great gay Facebook exodus begins." Almost immediately, new members were flocking to the site at a rate of 4K new users an hour. By September 25, 31K people were joining Ello every hour. People genuinely dislike Facebook for a lot of reasons, including ads. An ad-free social network that doesn't sell users information is a welcome alternative. But the main reason is apparently Facebook's naming policy. Many LGBTQ people change their names on Facebook to protect themselves from harassment.

by Kelsey McKinney
See full article at Vox.com

Ello, The Anti-Facebook Social Network, Goes Viral

MASHABLE - Sep 26 - Ello, the ad-free, invite-only, independent social network, has seemingly gone viral over the last week. Several reports have linked the rise of Ello to the recent firestorm caused by Facebook's real name policy, which requires all users to go by their legal name. Ello allows users to identify themselves by any name they want. The site itself is like a cross between Twitter and Tumblr though with more limited features. Reports have surfaced claiming Ello is receiving anywhere from 4K to 30K requests an hour. Dozens of beta invites have cropped up on eBay, with prices ranging anywhere from $5 to $150.

by Karissa Bell
See full article at Mashable