An Ad-Free Social Network: Say Ello!

Posted on April 5, 2015

Have you heard of Ello? Although it’s still in beta version, it’s one of the upcoming social networks that’s creating a stir. As we become more aware of social media advertising and marketers keep spending more and more money on promoting their message on social media, Ello’s creators have promised to not data mine, meaning no advertising to users on the site. Ello has agreed to never make money from selling ads, nor will it profit from selling user data. Is this too good to be true? How will users adopt the site? Although you can only access the site by invitation, the notion of an ad-free network is appealing to many.

Whether or not the channel actually plays out and becomes a large social media network, I feel that it will change the expectation for other social media sites. Ello plans on making money by selling widgets and apps that will allow users to customize their profile. While I am against having to pay to access a social media site, I would be apt to being able to have a free profile and then adding on as needed. This will give marketers the opportunity to fully customize their site and make it a destination for their audience. Instead of pushing ads to consumers, marketers will need to hone in on what is important to their audience and make their Ello page engaging, entertaining, and relevant, forcing marketers to rely on content resources instead of just increasing their budgets.
As Ello grows in popularity, other social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter will have to take Ello’s ad-free stance into consideration. Just like capitalism, if consumers are wanting what Ello is offering as opposed to what Facebook and Twitter are offering, these sites will decrease in popularity and will have to make changes in order to keep with what the audience is demanding.

While I think that the ad-free concept is great, I am not completely convinced on how people will respond to having to purchase widgets and apps for their profile. Because we are so accustomed to not paying anything in order to be a part of social networking sites, that will be an adjustment. Personally, unless the widgets are really cool and really cheap (less than a dollar), I don’t think I would want to purchase any. If the majority of users on the site are not willing to purchase these widgets and Ello has already agreed to be ad-free and not sell data mining, Ello will have to find new ways to be profitable. I feel like this is a make or break for the channel. I don’t feel like we will really know what the site until it is out of beta mode. Ello is doing a good thing by bringing up the idea of an ad-free network and I wish them the best of luck.