Say hello to Ello. A new social network set to rival Facebook, but without ads, has launched as an invitation-only beta test attracting subscribers and tech buzz. It bills itself as simple, beautiful and ad-free.

Ello, as it's called, began in July as a free service. It names Paul Budnitz as the creator, one who conceives and creates beautiful products that change the world as well as artists Berger and Fohr who are its graphic designers.

Like Us on Facebook

Other than that, under the heading of Ello/WTF, Ello says five other "creative technologists" were involved in the start-up. The site posts photos with faces obscured by a black smily face emoticon. It lists features similar to Facebook with basic commenting, enhanced user discovery and more.

Ello's invitation request available here comes with a manifesto declaring "your social network is owned by advertisers." Ello goes on to say "we believe in a better way." That better way includes transparency, audacity, beauty and simplicity as well as no advertising. Ello organizers say they want their social media site to be a tool for empowerment, not a tool to deceive and manipulate. 

While the new network collects information including location, language, referring web site and time spent on the network, it keeps the information anonymous and aggregated making it difficult for Ello, Google and others to trace the information.

Ello can see how people use the network only in a general way rendering it useless to advertisers. Users wanting even more privacy can choose do-not-track settings.

Facebook's recent decision to block people using aliases instead of actual names outraged many members of the LGBTQ community who looked for a new social network and found the Ello beta test, creating significant buzz.

Budnitz said he noticed a recent increase in user requests stemming from the Facebook fall-out. He said he welcomed the new interest, noting users could use any name they wanted.

Budnitz previously founded and designed toys at Kidrobot. He also owns and operates Budnitz Bicycles, a luxury bike builder. He said Ello wouldn't focus on monetization, instead was working on building good user experiences while mixing in premium features.

TagsEllo, Ads, Social network, Tech, LGBT, LGBTQ, social media ads