"With a joyous lack of irony, people complained that the Elio funding meant they would have ads and sell users data, meaning they shouldn’t be trusted. They complained on Facebook. The speed of which Ello gained traction, even when it was still in alpha showed that Facebook may be weaker than assumed... The main reason people use Facebook and Twi…

"I can only assume that they were naïve about what taking venture capital would mean for a project like this. Which, to put it bluntly, is the nail in its coffin.... When you take venture capital, it is not a matter of if you’re going to sell your users, you already have... In the myopic and upside-down world of venture capital, exits precede the…

"Ello..., may be forced to renege on its promises... received $435,000 in seed funding from Vermont-based VC firm Fresh Track Capital. ... none of its financial responsibility is disclosed on the site.... Freemiums is how Ello plans to make its money, charging users for premium services. "

Just substitute 'governments' for 'businesses' and 'brands', 'citizens' for 'customers', and 'policy' for 'product' in this excellent HBR post: "Businesses need to take Ello and its manifesto as a wake-up call to rethink the way they use social networks to reach customers... That means stepping back from the relentless quest for followers, click…

Mashable hedges its bets: ""We believe a social network can be a tool for empowerment... Not a tool to deceive, coerce, and manipulate — but a place to connect, create, and celebrate life. You are not a product."" - What's Up With Ello, the Anti-Facebook Social Network?

"But for those searching for what's next, Ello is not it. There have been a few versions of this virtuous social network before—from Diaspora (forgotten), App.net (oof), and even Path (oy) ... [Diaspora] was intended less as an imitation of Facebook than as an escape route from it... New York magazine wrote almost four years ago to the day."

"This is a Big Deal for a lot of people right now, because the software companies that support our social lives have become so evil and pervasive and controlling in recent years." - What Does Ethical Social Networking Software Look Like? — The Message — Medium