Does ello mean goodbye facebook?

Ello website (Source ello.co)

Facebook has become a victim of its own success. And as Facebook has grown there has been increasing pressure on Facebook to monitize its operations.

This has meant that the website has changed from being a service to users to its current form, a service to advertisers. As more than one person said; on the WWW if you're not the customer then you're the product.

But Ello has emerged as an alternative to Facebook. As of the most recent (September 25, 2014) figures I could find the firm is signing up 31,000 new users per hour. That is 744,000 per day.

And why are people flocking to Ello? I think that the firm's manifesto sums up the attraction pretty well.

To paraphrase Marx; users of the world sign up, you have nothing to lose but your ads.

Ello Manifesto

Your social network is owned by advertisers.

Every post you share, every friend you make, and every link you follow is tracked, recorded, and converted into data. Advertisers buy your data so they can show you more ads. You are the product that’s bought and sold.

We believe there is a better way. We believe in audacity. We believe in beauty, simplicity, and transparency. We believe that the people who make things and the people who use them should be in partnership.

We believe a social network can be a tool for empowerment. Not a tool to deceive, coerce, and manipulate — but a place to connect, create, and celebrate life.

You are not a product.  (Source ello.co)