A new social network is generating buzz for its hard stance against paid advertising and data collection. But how the site really works, when it comes to privacy, is a little more nuanced.
Ello is open on an invite-only basis, so you’ll need to know someone who’s already in the club to get in straight away. Tens of thousands of people are on the waiting list, according to the site, and only small batches of people are being let in at a time.
The site, which is still in beta, works similarly to Twitter. Users’ posts are public, and may include links to outside sites like YouTube or Soundcloud. There are two feeds: “Friends” for your besties; and a curated “Noise” stream for everything else. You can mention other users by adding the “@” symbol in front of their names, comment on their posts and repost them.
