Which format will survive test of time?

“In the blue corner we have recent newcomer to the scene and kicking up a storm with internet enthusiasts... Ello!
JPCT 150713 Alan Stainer. Photo by Derek MartinJPCT 150713 Alan Stainer. Photo by Derek Martin
JPCT 150713 Alan Stainer. Photo by Derek Martin

“In the red corner, we have the new rookie on the block tsu!”

So a few weeks ago (it feels like longer) I mentioned a new social network called Ello. Ello if you recall has been created by artists and designers and has stated that they will not display adverts, or sell user data.

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Well, hot off the press is the news that they have now written this into a legal document. So that even if the company is sold, the new owners must abide by the rules laid down.

The obvious question is, how will they make money? Is Ello doomed to live like a gremlin from the film, a very active life, but short one?

The reason I bring Ello up again, is because there is yet another brand new social network for everyone to play with. It is called tsu (apparently pronounced like Sue) and appears to be the complete opposite to Ello. In that, rather than having no ads, it actually encourages its use because of the ads.

You see, tsu have determined that 90 per cent of the revenue they generate from ads on their site will go straight back to their users.

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So if you post something that goes viral, you could make a nice bit of money out of it. I only heard about tsu a few days ago (the same as everyone else), so it is all very new.

From a features/functional perspective, it seems familiar in some ways to other networks, which makes picking up how to use it that much simpler.

Now something which I wrote about recently on my blog and which will affect tsu (and any site serving ads), are ad blockers. You can read my full blog post here: https://www.alansitsolutions.com/blog/2014/10/16/ad-blockers-good-internet/

In essence, ad blockers harm sites that use any form of advertising to generate revenue. So, which do you think will survive in the long run? Ello or tsu?