Tech Tuesday: Hello Ello… & Ebay?

Ello! No, we’re not talking to you. We’re talking about the rise of a new, below the radar, hip social media site called Ello, which has been dubbed the “un-facebook”. Ello is targeted at active social network users thirsting for a cleaner interface to escape the ad-packed and geriatric-oriented cyber cluster that is Facebook. The site’s founders, Paul Budnitz and Todd Berger, created Ello as a simple ad-free platform for artistic expression with greater privacy. Everyone snap their fingers in applause.

Ello’s so behind-the-velvet ropes, you need a hard-to-get invite just to sign up. If you make the cut, you’re emailed ten of your own Ello invites to distribute to fellow hipsters.  And where there’s short supply, there’s a way to cash in. Some users with spare invites are selling them on eBay, including Andrey Arias, who is selling his allotted invites for $25 a pop. Check out the video below to learn how Andrey became an Ello entrepreneur:

But Ello users aren’t the only ones trying to bring home some buck. Besides its exclusivity, Ello’s biggest attraction is that it doesn’t advertise, which also means it’s not making bank. To sustain the company’s finances without ads, Ello plans on offering features users can purchase for a few dollars. Think of it as Ello’s personalized App Store. In the meantime, the company recently reported it was getting more than 50,000 requests an hour to join–making it, for the moment, the coolest party on the Internet. But only if you can just get in.