ツ - Tsu: A Social Network that You Can Monetize

A few weeks ago, I made a post about a social network called Ello with the selling points of being simplistic and having no advertisements. This time, I will be discussing a new social network where advertising is one of its major features. This social network is Tsu (and if you are knowledgeable of Japanese Katakana, you will know that the kana for tsu looks like a smiley face, ツ).

Unlike most social networks, Tsu shares its ad revenue with its users. On Facebook, most users post pictures and original content just to share things with friends and waste time; on Tsu, you can do the same thing, but you will get paid for bringing additional friends into your network and for any ad revenue that your posts and pages would bring in. Instead of using all of your time making money for Zuck, you can see some of that money fill your coffers.

Tsu is not the first social network that has allowed users to directly monetize for building a network, however. Back in the heyday of MySpace, there was a network that I joined that promised money if one could build a network of friends. I have forgotten the name of this site, and I am sure it is defunct now since its user interface was cumbersome and it was highly disorganized (similar to MySpace back in the day). On the other hand, Tsu has a very professional layout and an easy-to-use interface. I am sure that given enough time, it will grow to be a viable social platform. I do not know much about its SEO value for the time being, but one could still use it to market their business and make a little bit extra on the side.

Unlike Ello, I have decided to jump in and join Tsu since it seems to be a legit network where users can profit rather than another dump for hipster-liberals to post their social justice memes. For the time being it is invitation-only, but your boy has you covered. If you want to join, you can join through my invitation. I hope to see you there.

Will the World be Saying 'Ello to Ello, and Sayounara to Facebook?

I remember being a high school student a few years after the turn of the century. When I was a freshman, everyone had a blog on Xanga. Sophomore year was when MySpace took over, and you just weren't cool unless you had a page on the site. Tom's social network was dominant until my sophomore year in college, when everyone started jumping on the Facebook bandwagon. Since then, Zuckerberg's brainchild has surpassed one billion, but it has also undergone several changes that have many users upset.

Just like MySpace before it, Facebook has undergone several template changes which make the platform far more complicated than it used to be. Advertisements take up a good portion of the screen, and more and more changes have been made to the settings, making it harder to hide information that you do not want to share. Another major issue with the site is the crackdown on users that do not want to use their real names, which makes it harder for artists, musicians, writers, etc. that wish to use pseudonyms or remain anonymous. Some users are hungry for a change in pace. Will they go back to the redesigned Myspace? No; that site is old, but it isn't quite vintage enough to suite the tastes of the modern social media consumer. Which site will people waste their time on now?

Enter Ello, a newcomer to the social network game. This new challenger offers users a simplistic interface, no advertisements, and the freedom to name themselves whatever they want to. For the time being, registration is only open to those that receive an invitation, and the current userbase seems to be a pack of hipsters (but isn't every social network infested with them?). Those that are looking for an alternative to Facebook might want to give it a try.

Hold up, how will Ello stay online without advertisement revenue?

Similar to free online games that allow users to purchase items using real-word currency, Ello will give users additional features should they decide to pay for them. This "freemium" model of financing is quite interesting, and I look forward to seeing how far it gets. Personally, I think that we will eventually be seeing advertisements on the site's pages, especially as it grows larger, but the founders of this budding social network have laid down some good intentions.

If Ello does succeed and becomes a contender in the battle against Facebook, or if it overtakes the current champion of the social network scene, then we can expect it to eventually face its own competitors in the future. Just like great nations and great empires, social networks seem to rise, bloat, and fall over time, while their users migrate on to the next "must-join" website.