Porn-Friendly, Ad-Free Social Network Ello Gets a Big Bump

LOS ANGELES—Ello, an ad-free social network that launched earlier this year and remains in beta and invitation-only, has gotten a ton of press over the past few days in the aftermath of a dust-up between drag queens and Facebook, which recently started cracking down on people not using their real names in their profiles, with the unfortunate deactivation of  "hundreds of pages belonging to LGBT people and drag performers." That did not go down well with the various communities, to say the least, and led to the situation escalating, and celebrity drag queen RuPaul taking a public lead in the matter. According to the Washington Post, "Even after a meeting with the drag community in San Francisco, Facebook’s representatives have refused to budge. The company restored some names temporarily, but gave those people two weeks to decide whether to start using their real names on their Facebook accounts or move to a fan page. "RuPaul (which is part of his given name, RuPaul Andre Charles) spoke out for the first time against the policy in a Hollywood Reporter interview that was posted online Wednesday," added the paper. “In showbiz, there’s no such thing as bad publicity as long as they spell your name right,” he said. “But it’s bad policy when Facebook strips the rights of creative individuals who have blossomed into something even more fabulous than the name their mama gave them.” A protest is scheduled for early October, but in the meantime Ello has reportedly seen a major bump in both interest and sign-ups. According to Ello creator Paul Budnitz, the network is now seeing new sign-ups at a pace of 4,000 an hour. “Artists, bloggers, people who are concerned about privacy, people who have had problems with stalkers, celebrities, and members of the LGBTQ community sometimes choose not to use their real names—out of personal preference, or to protect themselves,” Budnitz told BetaBeat yesterday. “All these people are being kicked out of Facebook.” Regarding Facebook's name policy, Budnitz commented, "Ello doesn’t mine or sell data or have ads, so we invite people to be who they want to be on Ello. There is no reason for us to require people to use real names.” (We have to wonder how Facebook, if it had existed in the mid-20th century, would have handled names like Archibald Leach, Lucille LeSueur, Issur Danielovitch, Demetria Guynes, or Ilyena Lydia Vasilievna Mironov?) In another BetaBeat article published today on Ello, Budnitz reiterated the network's dedication to remaining ad- and data-mining-free, and also weighed in on the site's embrace of adult content, as long as one simple rule is followed. Explicit content will need to be flagged as NSFW, as soon as the ability to flag is implemented. A newly revised policy states: "Don’t post sexually explicit content without flagging your profile Not Suitable for Work (NSFW). NSFW flagging is in development. This policy will go into effect as soon flagging is completed. We respect the diverse views of the Ello community. Not everyone wants to see sexually explicit content. If you regularly post this sort of content, please respect those in our community who do not wish to see it by flagging your profile NSFW. Doing so will screen your Profile’s content from Ello users who would prefer not to see it." Budnitz added, “We don’t have a problem with porn at all. But we would have a problem with bestiality or porn that encourages people to hurt each other, or anything that has to do with children.” BetaBeat commented, "Anything of that nature, and you’re likely to get banned immediately. Otherwise, porn it up!" Interested individuals can request an Ello invitation here.