HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Ello was an online
social networking service A social networking service (SNS), or social networking site, is a type of online social media platform which people use to build social networks or social relationships with other people who share similar personal or career content, interest ...
created by Paul Budnitz and Todd Berger in March 2014. It was later shut down in July 2023.


History

Ello began as a private social network consisting of seven artists and programmers. After a year of the social network being private, the creators redesigned the website and launched Ello to the public. Seed funding of $435,000 from the venture capital investor FreshTracks Capital in January 2014 helped sustain the company initially. This decision earned some criticism when the network achieved wider popularity. Ello launched on March 19, 2014, complete with a
manifesto A manifesto is a written declaration of the intentions, motives, or views of the issuer, be it an individual, group, political party, or government. A manifesto can accept a previously published opinion or public consensus, but many prominent ...
that claimed to distinguish it from other
social network A social network is a social structure consisting of a set of social actors (such as individuals or organizations), networks of Dyad (sociology), dyadic ties, and other Social relation, social interactions between actors. The social network per ...
s like Facebook. The site promised it would never sell user data, proclaiming "You Are Not a Product". The social network service officially launched on April 3, although membership registration was only by invitation. Ello gained added attention in September 2014, when numerous members of the
LGBTQ LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, Gay men, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning (sexuality and gender), questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, Asexuality, asexual, ...
community left Facebook following the controversial enforcement of its real-name policy, thought to be intended to exclude
drag queen A drag queen is a person, usually male, who uses Drag (entertainment), drag clothing and makeup to imitate and often exaggerate Femininity, female gender signifiers and gender roles for entertainment purposes. Historically, drag queens have ...
s in
San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...
. At its peak, the social network was processing more than 30,000 signup requests an hour. It is estimated that 20% of sign ups remain active on the site one week after registration. In October 2014, Ello reorganized itself as a
benefit corporation In business, and only in United States corporate law, a benefit corporation (or in some states, a public benefit corporation) is a type of for-profit corporate entity whose goals include making a positive impact on society. Laws concerning ...
and raised a further $5.5 million in
venture capital Venture capital (VC) is a form of private equity financing provided by firms or funds to start-up company, startup, early-stage, and emerging companies, that have been deemed to have high growth potential or that have demonstrated high growth in ...
. In 2015 Ello launched its iPhone app, which has many similarities to the original website, including format. In 2016, ''
Wired Wired may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * ''Wired'' (Jeff Beck album), 1976 * ''Wired'' (Hugh Cornwell album), 1993 * ''Wired'' (Mallory Knox album), 2017 * "Wired", a song by Prism from their album '' Beat Street'' * "Wired ...
'' writer Charley Locke noted that the user base of Ello has shifted from early adopters of new social media to artists and other creative people. In 2018,
Talenthouse Talenthouse was a social network site owned by Talenthouse AG, a public company based in Switzerland that also owns other services including EyeEm, Ello, Jovoto, Zoopa, and Creative Commission. History Talenthouse was co-founded in 2009 by C ...
acquired Ello for an undisclosed amount. As of July 2023, the Ello social network is no longer available.


Features

Initially influenced by
Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...
, Ello later switched to a
Pinterest Pinterest is an American social media service for publishing and discovery of information in the form of digital Bulletin board, pinboards. This includes recipes, home, style, motivation, and inspiration on the Internet using image sharing. Pint ...
-like focus on art, photography, fashion and web culture. The Ello service claimed several notable distinguishing intentions as a social network such as never selling user data to advertisers or third parties, never showing advertisements, and not enforcing a real-name policy. Ello provided some features like an emoji autocomplete, NSFW settings and hashtags, and was planning on adding others such as private messaging.


Revenue

Ello was free to use, but was exploring a
freemium Freemium, a portmanteau of the words "free" and "premium", is a pricing strategy by which a basic product or service is provided free of charge, but money (a premium) is charged for additional features, services, or virtual (online) or physical ( ...
model to finance future activities. It was also selling specially branded T-shirts in a partnership with
Threadless Threadless (stylized as threadless) is an online community of artists and an e-commerce website based in Chicago, Illinois, founded in 2000 by Jake Nickell and Jacob DeHart. Threadless designs are created by and chosen by an online community. E ...
to generate
revenue In accounting, revenue is the total amount of income generated by the sale of product (business), goods and services related to the primary operations of a business. Commercial revenue may also be referred to as sales or as turnover. Some compan ...
. Additionally, the social network introduced a 'Hire Me' button in August 2016, followed by a 'Buy' and 'Collaborate Button' soon after that. The 'Hire Me' and/or 'Collaborate' buttons enabled users to be contacted by other community members, to either collaborate or offer their services. The 'Buy button' could be added to any post, and directed towards any online shop where the goods were sold. As such, Ello seemingly chose to turn to the affiliate revenue model to gain income.


Reception

Ello had been criticized for its simple,
minimalist In visual arts, music, and other media, minimalism is an art movement that began in the post-war era in western art. The movement is often interpreted as a reaction to abstract expressionism and modernism; it anticipated contemporary post-mi ...
design. Bona Kim of
Gizmodo ''Gizmodo'' () is a design, technology, science, and science fiction website. It was originally launched as part of the Gawker Media network run by Nick Denton. ''Gizmodo'' also includes the sub-blogs ''io9'' and ''Earther'', which focus on pop ...
criticized the general bugginess of the website and accused it of trying too hard to look different from its main competitor,
Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...
. One highly positive review expressed concern that Ello "seems fated to become the
betamax Betamax (also known as Beta, and stylized as the Greek letter Beta, β in its logo) is a discontinued consumer analog Videotape, video cassette recording format developed by Sony. It was one of the main competitors in the videotape format war ag ...
of social media: superior to its competitor but failing to win popular traction. But it doesn't matter ... A social network doesn't need approval from ''everyone'' to work."


References

{{Online social networking American photography websites Defunct social networking services Internet properties established in 2014 Image-sharing websites American social networking websites 2014 establishments in the United States