So I snagged an invite to join Ello (courtesy of the super cool, very talented Bracken MacLeod). You can find me there as @angelluiscolon, but since the search function doesn’t work, you’ll wanna click my user handle.

Ello is interesting. It’s buggy, super pared down, doesn’t explain itself, and seems incredibly hard to even navigate.

I think I might love it.

It’s easy to fall in love with new, trendy tech/social platforms. Friendster begat MySpace begat Facebook begat Twitter and on and on. It makes sense. We may hate change, but there does come a point where we demand it. Maybe its a means of ensuring we don’t devolve (a term with no real basis, I know) or we’re built to prevent mental stagnation (something a lot of the world seems to disprove – see Ferguson, Duck Dynasty, the popularity of the Palin family).

Anyway, Ello.

Ello (willfully or not) forces us to interact again. We need to put effort to comment or find specific information. There’s no more passive single click (and I sincerely hope it remains that way) no more bullshit validation for dumbest thing. Sure, we can stay shallow and say, “That’s cool!”, but compared to the level of effort Facebook and Twitter doesn’t demand of us now, it’s massive.

Beyond that, Ello seems to speak to the artistic community. It’s quiet, allows us to speak our mind in ways we haven’t in a while, and that empty space really complements posting of art and beautiful photos. Memes just aren’t enough here (though, hey, the funny GIF is always welcome).

Overall, I look forward to seeing what’s next. I like Ello and I like the community I’m a part of so far. That can all change in the next month, but that’s the risk with anything somewhat “new” or different.

Be easy,

Angel