In the tradition of joining new social tools on the interwebs, here some thoughts on my experience.
The usual steps are:
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The first few hours – mostly spent exploring the interface, the features, mired in the comparisons between the “old” and the “new”
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At some point, the lack of interaction and content of previous networks – the constant buzz of twitter, the inane conversations of facebook etc. – forces me tp hunt for connections. Rampant, indiscriminate “friending” of people ensues.
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Invite a few select people, find the “old” connections from elsewhere, and waddle in the familiarity of all.
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Crickets .. not a thing is said. I realize I have nothing to say most days.
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Start contributing content, and attempt to find the niche for this medium
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All my kindergarden, high school and college buddies arrive, and make their presence felt
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Get lazy and stop contributing - the content feed become a wasteland.
I’m just about done with 3 on ello. It’s is going to a fun experience! Of that, I am sure. Some things I like on Ello, that I hope will break the pattern of “use-discard”:
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Keyboard shortcuts!!
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Friends/Noise. This is a great middle ground between the insanity that is Circles on Google+, the unmaintainable mess that is twitter lists, and the unknowable grouping in FB.
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Multiple layout options. Makes the incessant updates manageable.
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Markdown. Can’t thank the developers of Ello, enough for this!!
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Ability to cross-post content between my blog and Ello. Thanks largely, to markdown.
Some posts from others more articulate than me:
@thomashawk quips on his thoughts on Ello. A great read. As always, TH has great content, and also copious amounts of patience in letting such tools grow, and helping it in the process (I’ve seen him do this for flickr, google+ and zooomr).
@budnitz One of the founders of Ello makes great points on starting up something new. Nice to see the passion and the vision. Kudos!