We have a plethora of social networks, from Facebook, Twitter & Google+ to Orkut. Every network tries to connect you to your friends, family & long forgotten colleagues. Ello is a new social network that claims to offer something which the others don’t.

Social Networks like Facebook or Twitter earn their livelihood by Online advertising, among other sources of revenue. These advertisements are linked closely to the user’s profile & habits. For example, I love GoPro Camera & I follow every page & user of GoPro. This is picked up by the social networks I am a member of, thanks to cookies, & they will then serve me ads based on GoPro. In a basic way, this is how user information is shared & analyzed by various 3^rd parties.

Ello says this technique is a misuse of user information, claiming that every post by a user is tracked, analyzed & converted into data. This data is bought by advertisers as they can then show more ads to targeted audience. Ello claims to provide a better method of being socially connected without the ads & other privacy issues. Their tagline is, ‘You are not a product’, meaning a user is not a tool for advertising.

In fact, these guys have published a manifesto, which among other things, says: 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.

In private Beta still, Ello is the brainchild of product designer Paul Bunditz.The graphic design is by Berger & Forh, while creative technologists Mode Set have also contributed to “the quality & efficiency of this service.”

Ello is still in development stage & membership for now is through invite only.

Signup for Ello here.

Image Credit: Ello

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