Say hello to Ello, alternative to social network Facebook

Harvey, an art director in New York, got an invitation to be part of Ello from a friend two months ago. He quickly registered after hearing that many of his artist and design buddies had also joined the service, which has no advertising. Those distinctions made Ello a counterpoint to Facebook Inc. (FB), the world's largest social network, which shows promotions in users' feeds and doesn't require invitations, Bloomberg reports. "I don't want to see ads, I just want to see people posting interesting stuff," Harvey, 29, said in an interview. With Ello, "the message of buy, buy, buy is toned down." Harvey is just one of the people flocking to Ello, a Burlington, Vermont-based startup that has caught the attention of users and investors since its debut on Aug. 7. The free invite-only service receives more than 45,000 requests an hour, according to co-founder Paul Budnitz, who said he came up with Ello because "none of the social networks are fun anymore." The attention around Ello illustrates how even with Facebook and Twitter Inc. (TWTR) dominating the social-media landscape, there is still room for alternatives to grab users, especially as the larger networks have evolved into big businesses that cater to marketers as much as consumers. With a black and gray site that emphasizes photos, Ello is designed instead to "be about conversation and high-quality content," Budnitz said in an interview. Unlike Facebook, which requires members to sign up with their real names, people can also be anonymous on Ello and use different names. All the site asks for is an e-mail for registration.