So I’m gonna jump on the bandwagon and give Ello a shot. I’m frustrated at how FB and IG hide artists I want to follow just because I don’t “Like” every single post ever. Ello supposedly is directly making its goal NOT to datamine or use algorithms. You see what you follow. Instagram has become WAY too focused on trying to kill Snapchat and Periscope. I don’t want goofy face filters, I want to follow artists. I’m waiting for the day they finally just merge IG with FB and call it a day. The new app will only take up 50GB on your phone and send a constant stream of data directly to FB’s marketing team.
Frankly, if a service ever wanted me to pay a modest yearly fee, I would. I’d be happy to support a service that allows me to follow who I want and keep up, I also think it would cut way back on spam accounts and wholesale “craftsmen”, even if the paywall was like $20/yr or something. (Though Etsy eventually gave in and stopped caring about sweatshops and wholesalers posing as “artisans” so what do I know?)
In any event, I’ve heard positive things about Ello; it’s been around in website form for a few years, and though its mobile app is reportedly hinky, they’re doing their best to improve. It’s full of artists and Ello seems genuinely committed to the idea that YOUR data/photos are YOURS. Though, if it was easier to get more artists updating their own sites and use an RSS feed aggregator, ownership might not be such a hot button topic!
