Teenagers, social media users, members of the LGBT community and drag queens: there is a new social media network in town that could offer more than Facebook ever did. Ello is the newest social media network that boasts more privacy.

Last month, when Facebook changed its rules for everyone to use their real names, a gamut of performance artists and drag queens, especially the LGBT community, were affected. This Facebook faux pas saw a deluge of subscribers strut their stuff to Ello. Subscribing to Ello is not a simple three-step process; its founder wants it that way.   

The only way subscribers can get onto the 7-month-old site at present is by invitation from other users. Ello's founder Paul Budnitz says that on "Sunday or Monday, we got 50 emails over several hours." Then, he says, the "sign-ups kept going up and up," Forbes reported. Budnitz claimed that they had 4,000 interested new users per hour.

Those numbers were a combination of people creating new accounts, sending invitations, and requesting invitations. The mass of online users flocking to Ello was so huge that Budnitz had to control their system from crashing; they did so by just honoring invitations from existing users, Forbes reported.

Ello promises no ads. It has been reported that the company does not allow advertising, and it promises to never share any of your personal information. Unlike Facebook, Ello is plain, uncomplicated, and clean. The company believes in aesthetic beauty and simplicity. Visually, however, Ello looks similar to Google Plus but monochromatic; it also includes color photos, a header image and your profile, and your friends list.

Similar to Facebook, Ello users can write posts, upload photos and images, and comment on their posts. Anonymity is paramount with Ello.

While Ello became an instant success, its founder had a slow start to his fame and accomplishments. Budnitz started his toy company against all advice, both financial and friendly. Budnitz's company Kidrobot which created designer toys was a hit, Wired reported. His limited edition bunny-like creatures got Pharrell Williams, among others, hooked.

The inspiration for Ello started more than a year ago in 2013. Budnitz was perturbed by the advertisements he saw. The first ad that Budnitz saw was on his Tumblr account: it was a JC Penny ad for women's leggings.

"It just seems like the internet has become one big billboard," Budnitz said. "After a while, it's just kind of disgusting to me. There's a better way to do things. I feel like we've been in the networked TV age of the internet, where the game is: 'How many ads can we show you before we drive you away?'" Wired reported.

In the beginning, Ello was Budnitz's private social network for himself and 90 of his friends. He was sick of ads, Forbes reported. Soon more of his friends wanted to join. He eventually applied for $435,000 in venture funding, and then Budnitz and his partners relaunched it with invitation only on Aug. 7 that year. Within six days they got more customers.

Parts of Ello will not be free. Budnitz eventually wants to charge users for features. For example, the social media site's newest users want multiple profiles with one log-in. Budnitz says it might cost somewhere between $1 and $2, Forbes reported

At the moment, Ello's manifesto on their homepage declares that they care about the user. It states "You are not a product," Wired reported. The "giant queer exodus" from Facebook -- as Budnitz calls it -- also helped to make Ello's digital presence more visible, supportive and even formidable.