Ello Is Using T-Shirt Sales To Make Money
Who Needs On-Site Ads?
Everyone remembers Ello, the new social media network that was the anti-Facebook. It would be ad-free, and promised not to sell your personal data to advertisers. Ello went where no previous social media website had gone by vowing to never ever use ads and to never ever sell their user's data.Facebook should really take a leaf out of their book.
However, it was unclear whether they would ever overtake the social media giants such as Facebook and Twitter, despite their alternative message. Well, Ello have yet again played with what it means to be a social media network.
They currently have no ad revenues, so Ello have turned to other means to get a bit of money. They have teamed up with Threadless, a T-Shirt design firm. Yes, you've heard right, Ello will be selling t-shirts. That's definitely something Facebook hasn't tried yet. At least not officially.
The T-shirts are being sold on Threadless' website, and are all a play on Ello's logo, the smiley face. There are three designs available at the moment: two very simple black and white designs for $25 and one more elaborate design by Chuck Henderson for $35. According to the Threadless website, that's the direction Ello wants to go in: "Every 2 weeks, on the 1st and 15th, we'll release a new limited edition t-shirt designed by an artist/designer from the Ello community. Tees will be available on a limited basis for 2 weeks, while Ello logo tees will always be available."
Every two weeks, Ello fans will be delighted to discover a new t-shirt from a new designer. Ello will be asking them to interpret what Ello means to them. This departure from what traditional social media websites do makes sense. Paul Budnitz, Ello co-founder, goes over the reasons why they decided to go in this direction: "Ello is about freedom. Freedom from advertising, freedom to be what you want to be, and freedom to create. Working with brilliant artists like Chuck (Henderson) is a way we support Ello's creative community."
Ello isn't foolish enough to think that t-shirts will be enough to finance their new social media website. Ello have other plans to make Ello sustainable and to make a bit more money. They are currently working on another version of Ello which would resemble an 'app store'. Users will be able to build their own Ello, however they want - for a price, of course.
One thing is sure, this isn't the last time you'll be hearing about Ello.
Laura is a recent graduate from University of East Anglia in Film and Television Studies, currently interning as a content writer but hoping to one day live off her writing. Follow her @LauraAtSMF.
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Ello Is Using T-Shirt Sales To Make Money
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Thursday, November 20, 2014
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