<div dir="ltr">In theory is an alternative possible, within current constraints?<br>Was the fate of Diaspora inevitable? - or is a wikipedia style social network achievable?<div>Not rhetorical questions.</div><div><br></div><div>Josh</div></div><div class="gmail_extra"><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Fri, Sep 26, 2014 at 8:30 AM, Austin Walker <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:awalk4@uwo.ca" target="_blank">awalk4@uwo.ca</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
<div dir="ltr">
<div dir="ltr" style="font-family:'Calibri','Segoe UI','Meiryo','Microsoft YaHei UI','Microsoft JhengHei UI','Malgun Gothic','sans-serif';font-size:12pt"><div><div>I second many of Christians concerns, especially as more comes to light about Ello's current operation and its potential aspirations. </div><div><br></div></div><div>Andy Baio, Ello user @waxpancake, posted <a href="https://ello.co/waxpancake/post/oy73kFfDdhOPh8Jv9z9pFAhttps://ello.co/waxpancake/post/oy73kFfDdhOPh8Jv9z9pFA" target="_blank">this </a>breakdown into Ello’s current funding situation. The long and short of it is that Ello is currently operating with $435,000 of VC. </div><div><br></div><div>Baio writes: “But VCs don't give money out of goodwill, and taking VC funding — even seed funding — creates outside pressures that shape the inevitable direction of a company.</div><div><br></div><div>Before they opened their doors, Ello became hooked on an unsustainable funding model — taking cash from VCs — and will almost certainly take a much larger Series A round once that $435,000 dries up. (Which, at their current burn rate, should be in a couple months.)”</div><div><br></div><div>Worth a read. (Relinking here, in case the link above doesn’t work: <a href="https://ello.co/waxpancake/post/oy73kFfDdhOPh8Jv9z9pFA" target="_blank"><u><font color="#0066cc">https://ello.co/waxpancake/post/oy73kFfDdhOPh8Jv9z9pFA)</font></u></a>. </div><div><br></div><div>-Austin Walker</div><div><br></div><div style="padding-top:5px;border-top-color:rgb(229,229,229);border-top-width:1px;border-top-style:solid"><div><font face=" 'Calibri', 'Segoe UI', 'Meiryo', 'Microsoft YaHei UI', 'Microsoft JhengHei UI', 'Malgun Gothic', 'sans-serif'" style="line-height:15pt;letter-spacing:0.02em;font-family:"Calibri","Segoe UI","Meiryo","Microsoft YaHei UI","Microsoft JhengHei UI","Malgun Gothic","sans-serif";font-size:12pt"><b>From:</b> <a href="mailto:idc-request@mailman.thing.net" target="_blank">idc-request@mailman.thing.net</a><br><b>Sent:</b> Friday, September 26, 2014 8:00 AM<br><b>To:</b> <a href="mailto:idc@mailman.thing.net" target="_blank">idc@mailman.thing.net</a></font></div></div><div><br></div><div dir=""><div><span class="">Send iDC mailing list submissions to<br> <a href="mailto:idc@mailman.thing.net" target="_blank">idc@mailman.thing.net</a><br><br>To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit<br> <a href="https://mailman.thing.net/mailman/listinfo/idc" target="_blank">https://mailman.thing.net/mailman/listinfo/idc</a><br>or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to<br> <a href="mailto:idc-request@mailman.thing.net" target="_blank">idc-request@mailman.thing.net</a><br><br>You can reach the person managing the list at<br> <a href="mailto:idc-owner@mailman.thing.net" target="_blank">idc-owner@mailman.thing.net</a><br><br>When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific<br>than "Re: Contents of iDC digest..."<br><br><br>Today's Topics:<br><br></span> 1. Re: Ello--Alternative to Facebook (Christian Fuchs)<br><br><br>----------------------------------------------------------------------<br><br>Message: 1<br>Date: Fri, 26 Sep 2014 10:23:21 +0100<br>From: Christian Fuchs <<a href="mailto:christian.fuchs@uti.at" target="_blank">christian.fuchs@uti.at</a>><br>To: "<a href="mailto:idc@mailman.thing.net" target="_blank">idc@mailman.thing.net</a> >> idc" <<a href="mailto:idc@mailman.thing.net" target="_blank">idc@mailman.thing.net</a>><br>Subject: Re: [iDC] Ello--Alternative to Facebook<br>Message-ID: <<a href="mailto:54253089.2040501@uti.at" target="_blank">54253089.2040501@uti.at</a>><br>Content-Type: text/plain; charset=windows-1252; format=flowed<div><div class="h5"><br><br>Alternative to Facebook?<br><br>The important question is if Ello is a for-profit company or not and if <br>not, if it attempts to become one or not. The important point is how the <br>founders and those operating it relate to capitalism.<br><br>It says it does not commodify data for advertising purposes - good!<br><br>It however also says <a href="https://ello.co/wtf/post/privacy" target="_blank">https://ello.co/wtf/post/privacy</a>:<br>"We may share your personal information with third parties under several <br>circumstances, including [...] if we contract with a third party service <br>provider to offer services for you ? for example, with a credit card <br>processing company if you decide to buy something through Ello. Ello <br>does not have any affiliated companies right now. But if we do in the <br>future, we may share information with them, too."<br><a href="https://ello.co/wtf/post/privacy" target="_blank">https://ello.co/wtf/post/privacy</a><br><br>"offer services for you" can mean anything - the crucial thing is if <br>Ello or the service-provider make monetary profit by providing this <br>service or ever in the future intend to do so. This is not clarified.<br><br>Ello further says <a href="https://ello.co/wtf/post/about-ello" target="_blank">https://ello.co/wtf/post/about-ello</a>:<br><br>"We occasionally offer special features to our users. If we create a <br>special feature that you really like, you may choose to support Ello by <br>paying a very small amount of money to add that feature to your Ello <br>account.<br>You never have to pay anything, and you can keep using Ello forever, for <br>free. By choosing to buy a feature now and then for a very small amount <br>of money you support our work and help us make Ello better and better."<br><br>It is unclear here if Ello if these features are offered in order to get <br>donations that fund a non-profit organisation or if the intention is to <br>accumulate capital.<br><br><br>Being ad-free is not enough - the point is that you have to be <br>non-capitalist in order to be an alternative to Facebook.<br><br>Ello says nowhere if it is a for-profit company, a hobby project of a <br>bunch of artists, a co-operative, or whatever. It seems to conceal its <br>legal status and that's a problem.<br><br>Ello says: "Ello is a Public Network" <a href="https://ello.co/wtf/post/privacy" target="_blank">https://ello.co/wtf/post/privacy</a>. <br>You are only truly public if you are public service or commonly owned.<br><br>It is unclear what Ello is - and that it is not communicating its legal <br>status and what its relationship to capitalism is, is troubling. A <br>privacy policy and terms of use that do not rule out that a platform is <br>or ever becomes capitalist are just as bad as Facebook's.<br><br>Best, Christian<br><br><br><br><br><br><br></div></div><span class="">------------------------------<br><br>_______________________________________________<br>iDC mailing list<br><a href="mailto:iDC@mailman.thing.net" target="_blank">iDC@mailman.thing.net</a><br><a href="https://mailman.thing.net/mailman/listinfo/idc" target="_blank">https://mailman.thing.net/mailman/listinfo/idc</a><br>_______________________________________________<br>Institute for Distributed Creativity (iDC)<br>_______________________________________________<br><a href="http://www.distributedcreativity.org" target="_blank">www.distributedcreativity.org</a><br>_______________________________________________<br>The research of the Institute for Distributed Creativity<br>(iDC) focuses on collaboration in media art, technology,<br>and theory with an emphasis on social contexts.<br>_______________________________________________<br><br><br></span>End of iDC Digest, Vol 93, Issue 23<br>***********************************<br></div></div></div>
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