The Anti-Social Network

In our moment of advertisement-heavy social networking, the creators of Ello are attempting something that could potentially lead many people to break ties with Facebook.

Your social network is owned by advertisers.

Or at least that's what Ello says.

Developed by "seven well-known artists and programmers" to be a private social network, Ello is slowly being made available to the wider public. Unfortunately, for the time being, the website only exists in beta and requires that you request an invitation in order to join. However, a quick look around the site is all that is needed to realize that this is no Facebook.

The Anti-Facebook

ello.co / Via ello.co

Of course, the new website does not call out the social networking giant directly. But if this photo of the site's developer, Paul Budnitz, is anything to go off of, it seems that Ello is resisting the temptation many may feel to call this simply a new Facebook. In fact, it is anything but. A quick look around their public profiles is enough to see that the experience of this social network is quite different. Not only are advertisements no where to be found (a sight to see, considering how inundated our feeds have become with ads of every kind), but also the overall layout is beautifully simple and incredibly functional.

Via ello.co

Via ello.co

Via ello.co

The First Manifesto of Social Networking

Yes, they have a manifesto. But before you roll your eyes at this hipsterian slip, give it a quick read. While the ideas expressed seem pretty self-evident at first glance, the manifesto as a whole concisely summarizes the state of modern social media.

Of course, as mentioned already, the site is in beta and requires an invitation to join. But this will be one to watch. How people will respond to this new social networking concept largely remains to be seen. And Facebook? It will be interesting to see how they respond to this potential threat.