Ello

Ello launched last year and of course I signed up as soon as I could. It was hyped at the time as the “anti-Facebook”. This appealed to me since I’m rather anti-Facebook myself.

But I was disappointed. I found the layout and typography to be a little too quirky, and it seemed there were more bugs than people. I posted a few things, followed a few people, and soon forgot about Ello.

As I become more privacy-aware, sites like Ello become more attractive. From Ello & Your Data:

Ello is a Public Benefit Corporation, with a legal obligation to never display paid third party advertising, sell user data to a third party, or sell our company to anyone that would ever do any of those things.

That seems like a good thing. The cynics among us respond with “But it’s a free service so they’ll have to sell ads eventually”. Perhaps, but at least Ello is trying to do the right thing. That’s a good start. Plus, the odd typographical and layout choices are beginning to grow on me. At first I thought it was simply a trying-too-hard attempt at being different. Now, I’m more inclined to simply enjoy the differences. It’s peaceful there.

I hope Ello survives because I think we can use a privacy-aware social network catering to the creative and other communities.

I’m @jackbaty on Ello.