(H)Ello or Goodbye?

Dubbed “the anti-Facebook,” Ello is a ad-free social media network which promises not to data mine. Ello’s website states: “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.” Indeed, those are powerful words. The reality of the situation is that when we are sitting down in front of our computers, we are sitting in front of tens of websites tracking our every move.

I think this idea is very optimistic of Ello. Considering the fact that many don’t realize or even understand what data mining is, it’s hard to convince millions of people to jump ship from addicting social media websites such as Facebook. We're on Facebook because our friends are on our Facebook, and thus, the cycle is vicious. The truth is, the company is going to need a huge movement to alert people, and additionally, the movement needs to be big enough to motivate action—something that the Internet often lacks. We all post about things and jump onto trending bandwagons, but rarely do we take real action to make a difference. Think about #takebackourgirls or even further back, #kony. There’s a big difference between the amount of people who share things and the people who donate money or reach out to others in power to help. Thus, Ello has to figure out how to convey data mining in a way that almost disturbs the everyday user. But the truth is, even if we’re not on Facebook, we’re still on other sites that track us. To avoid them all would be nearly impossible.

Of course, if Ello continues to gain more traction, it will eventually create wider consequences for other social media networks. They might feel more pressured to do away with data mining or see their active user base decline dramatically. They might be inclined to revise their data mining practices and become more transparent to their users. Social media users will respond positively because when it comes down it, we all want our privacy. Ello’s future, however, is very shaky. Social media websites thrive on free access, and to encourage users to purchase features might discourage people from using the platform. Additionally, there’s no telling if the company will make enough of a profit to really survive in a cutthroat social media world. In an ideal world, Ello would be the revolutionary social network that changes the game. In a realistic world, however, giants such as Facebook will continue their reign.