Facebook rival Ello deluged with 31,000 requests to join every hour
Up and coming Facebook rival Ello has got off to a flying start in membership terms as 31,000 people an hour clamour to join the ad-free platform – despite it still being invitation only.
People are flocking to the latest social media hub attracted by its ad free ethos and promise never to sell user data, in stark contrast to the market leader Facebook.
This is all the more impressive as the site remains buggy and prone to going offline as its developers battle to upscale what was originally designed as a personal social hub for Vermont bike shop owner Paul Budnitz into an international force.
Speaking to the BBC Budnitz dismissed Facebook as an ‘ad platform’, stating instead that he would seek to obtain revenue through micropayments, by selling optional features for a couple of dollars.
Budnitz said: “It's in beta and it's buggy and it does weird stuff - and it's all being fixed as quickly as we can. We don't consider Facebook to be a competitor. We see it as an ad platform and we are a network.