In the fall of 2014, in the midst of controversy about Facebook’s real-name policy and selling of user data, a new social media platform called Ello caught fire. Ello vowed to forever be free of advertising, and its company manifesto boldly concluded with a promise to would-be users that “You are not a product.” The timing couldn’t have been more perfect. The media dubbed Ello the “Anti-Facebook” and, at its peak, the social network was getting membership requests from more than 30,000 new users per hour.
