The long, slow Ello

So, Ello, then.

I’m on there. Lots of people are on there (even if they’re not really using it yet). But I’m very far from convinced just yet.

Being wary of Facebook’s use of personal data is a positive thing, I’d agree. But that, in of itself, is not necessarily enough to build a new business on. You can’t compete if you just do things differently to Facebook, you need to be compellingly better. And right now, Ello – which is, admittedly, in beta – is not compellingly better. It’s fun. It’s lightweight. I’m not sure the “typewriter” aesthetic would be my choice, but there you are. But it’s not better right now.

And there are plenty of alarm bells ringing about how compellingly different it actually can be now it has take venture capital.

I’m convinced that the wheel will turn away from Facebook at some point, but I bet it won’t be to something everyone is celebrating as a Facebook killer. No, it’ll be to something that does things differently enough that, at first, no-one sees the connection.

Anyway, I’ve written a deeper analysis of Ello for NEXT Conference – and you can connect with me on Ello, if you’d like…