Is Ello the New Facebook?

Are apples the new oranges?

The buzz around Ello is increasing, and the beta social network is continually being compared to Facebook. 

People are speculating that many on Facebook will jump ship for the next new thing. 

With Ello just now releasing a beta version to a limited number of people, the demand and intrigue increases the hype.

However, Ello is something altogether new; originally created by seven people to be a private social network, mainly geared toward artists.

Their network grew, so eventually creator Paul Budnitz slowly rolled out a beta public version.

Ello has never promised to be a new Facebook. It's never promised games or "liking" or videos. 

They really didn't promise anything except to be forever ad-free.

In this interview with Carson Daly, Ello CEO & Co-Founder try to set the record straight about what their site is and isn't.

If you get an invite to join Ello, here's what to expect:

• Minimalism.  White space and black text.
  The only color added is from splashes of uploaded images. I'm having fun with animated GIFs, but real artists share their work.

• Really Minimal.  Your choices are to discover people, add them to Noise or Friends, invite several people to try Ello, interact with people, and let loose on your own profile.
• You can share images, links and text.
  I have begun using it as a type of private blog and venting place. An online space where I can rant stream of consciousness jumbles, and not worry about keeping up a professional image. My profile is not visible to those not on Ello.

• Noise Vs. Friends.  You can have two different news feeds.
  If you want to be able to weed out a small group of people from many you want to follow, those few will be Friends. And the rest of the people you want to follow can be added to a separate feed called Noise.
  
  The layout of the two feeds are different; a compressed list for Noise and expanded for Friends.

• WTF?  Chances are, you'll sign up, build a profile and sit there not knowing what to do.
  If you look at the bottom left of the screen, there are tiny letters "WTF."
  Here you can find all the answers to your questions.

So no, Ello is not and will never be the new Facebook.

It started as something private that got popular. There is no App. It is not pretentious.

I will continue to play with it, because of course I am too curious not to.

If you are curious too and would like an invite, I still have a few left. 

Interested?  Leave a comment below!