'Ello there!

In the spring of 2015 I joined a new web presence called Ello. I joined partly because it was new (and I love to try new things), and partly because none of my friends or family knew I was there. It was as if I was hiding in plain sight. I got to re-tell all my stale jokes if I chose to. I could stand and scream like a mime, attracting no attention. I went to Ello largely not knowing why I went, but had to anyway, probably much like a moth to a porch light. I didn't know anybody on Ello but I liked it because of that. I gave me a safety buffer of anonymity that was comforting. The funny thing was, it was mildly empty-feeling at the same time. I knew if made new friends I would likely never meet them.

I find myself wondering how often it happens that people find new friends on the Internet and something happens to either of them. The people they interact with never find out what happened to the missing--only that they went silent. They check back often and send them messages, but hear nothing. After a time, they stop checking and move on. That's the tragic side of Internet anonymity: if you don't make noise you don't exist. The same things about Ello's anonymity that I liked also tended to create a feeling of being disconnected. It was like I was a bug bouncing along the outside of a window--seeing what's inside but not able to enter. There's a strange feeling I get about it that I can't quite put my finger on. Like if I did find my way into the room I would find that I didn't belong anyway.

Ello didn't have a true direction when it started, but it essentially morphed into an artists' showcase. I'm not an artist and never will be, and though I do have talents, just posting things for no reason other than to play show and tell feels like I'm tooting my own horn and thumping my chest. That's not my style.

I did find Ello to be a whirlwind of sensory input and I loved that. Actually, I still pop in and look at things from time to time though I no longer am a member. It is full of things that spark my imagination and pull dusty memories to the surface of my mind. The array of daily Ello posts pleases me. They make me think, they make me wish, and they make me wonder. Ello shows me the world through others' eyes. And there are a lot of others' eyes!