Though Facebook remains the primary way of staying in touch with friends online, for many, the 10-year-old social network is losing its sheen.
For instance, Shefali V. Anand, a trained commercial pilot, says, “I am on Facebook primarily to stay abreast with what my friends overseas are up to. Apart from that, I don’t really spend too much time on it anymore.”
The relentless pop-up advertisements, based on personal information shared online, is another factor that seems to have contributed to social media fatigue.
Shefali says, “More than anything, it is just annoying. I don’t want to have to deal with so many advertisements when I’m merely going to check what my friends are up to.”
However, Varisha Narayan, a young classical singer, continues to find Facebook to be rather convenient. She says, “I like it because it’s a really inactive way of knowing what is happening in people’s lives. But what adds to better usage is knowing how to manage your privacy.”
It is in response to these concerns that a new social networking site, Ello, is making news.
Touted to be the ‘anti-Facebook’, Ello fashions itself as a social media platform with a conscience.
It has a ‘no-advertisement policy’ and assures its members that personal information will not be shared with third parties for commercial purposes. The network has recently made waves thanks to positive international press coverage.
However, it is too premature to sound the death knell for Facebook. It may also be noted that four years back, Diaspora, a similar venture, was also hailed as being Facebook’s biggest threat.
The initiative, while novel, failed to take off as expected.
