vlbrown-mzydt

I recently joined Ello. It's still in Beta, by invitation, but gaining users (and features). I'm enjoying it.

I especially like the mix of Twitter-like discovery and non-reciprocal following with FB-style conversation threads. Most of the early users of Ello are designers, artists, photographers and writers. It has a very creative feeling.

Every time I discover (and sign up for) a new Social Media platform, I ask myself "What will I use this one for?". I already use Twitter (short status), Facebook (longer status, discussions), and (occasionally) Google+ (more technically-oriented posts). What can Ello add for me?

I've decided to let the early adopters drive the meaning. I am using Ello for photos, non-technical discussion, sharing, essays, and short creative writing. That may change, over time, but it's a good fit for me at this time.

Some of the features I like:

Simple interface

Threaded conversations

Two categories: Friends and "Noise"

Styled text in posts (at least, bold and italic)

Links in posts (actual named links, not just http...)

Some of the features I wish it had:

More categories than just Friends and "Noise"

Styled text in comments (at least, bold and italic)

Links in comments

Replies to individual comments

Text selection of @names (I tend to select, copy, and save "favorite" posts on my PC)

Some sort of "acknowledgement without comment" button

At the moment, there is no "Like" (Favorite, +1…) button. On the one hand, this is supposed to lead to more commenting. On the other hand, it tends to result in a lot of content-free comments ("Me too", "I like this", "Agreed" …). Personally, I see this as an opportunity for Ello to do something different, perhaps by giving users the ability to specify the "acknowledgement button" text.

If you have an Ello account, say hello. I'm @vlb.