A couple of months ago, everyone was talking about Facebook Messenger, and how they didn't want to grant the social networking giant access to so many parts of their mobile phones. 

Now, there's a new kid on the social networking block, and everyone's talking about it. Ello is a social network with straightforward tagline: "Simple, beautiful & ad-free." In fact, Ello is so hot it just closed a $5.5 million dollar funding round and signed a charter to keep itself ad-free. 

But is the upstart really a threat to Facebook? 

Here's what you need to know: 

What the 'ell is Ello? 

That "ad-free" component of Ello's pitch is what is catching a lot of public attention: the company does not plan to sell advertising or data about individuals' browsing behavior to third parties. 

"From our perspective, Facebook is not really a social network at all," explains Ello. "It's an advertising platform. The advertiser is the customer, and the user is the product that is being bought and sold."

Ello also provides alternatives to a cluttered "newsfeed" experience. "One of the things we wanted most when we set out to create Ello was a system to help manage clutter," writes Ello. "The solution we came up with for Ello is called FRIENDS & NOISE."

You can keep tabs on the people you care about most by designating them "friends" and put everyone and everything else in the "noise" category. Your "friends" view will display posts in an expanded, list format, while "noise" material will appear in a compressed, grid-like layout.

Who's Behind Ello?

If you're picturing a hoodie-clad youngster barely out of high school and living large in Silicon Valley, think again. Ello was founded by 47-year-old entrepreneur Paul Budnitz, who owns a luxury bicycle store in Vermont, along with the toy company Kidrobot. 

Like many entrepreneurs, Budnitz is a dreamer who relishes risk. "My grandfather was a small-town doctor and he used to say that I was missing a gene that told me that some giant risk I am about to take with my life is both stupid and dangerous. I'm grateful for this. Everything beautiful that we create in life requires a leap of faith," he writes on his website. 

Why is Everyone Talking About it Now? 

Ello's burgeoning popularity may be a reaction to a recent controversy about Facebook's "real name" policy. Facebook stipulates that users use their real names, partially to foster authentic connections, partially to better target advertising, or so say critics. Some gay and transgender activists had sharply critcized this policy, and the Daily Dot posted an article titled “The Great Gay Facebook Exodus Begins" just as enrollment in Ello picked up. 

But the popularity of Ello could also be seen as being born of a pervasive mistrust of the social networking giants and how they use your personal information. In that regard, Ello states its difference loud and clear: "Collecting and selling your personal information, reading your posts, and mapping your social connections for profit is unethical."

Yeah, But Do We Really Need a Another Social Network? 

Though it's definitely the social networking juggernaut, Facebook's popularity is definitely slipping with young people who blanche at sharing a newsfeed with mom and dad. Given the explosive growth of networks like Instagram and Pinterest, Ello just might find a ready niche. 

OK, How to I Get In?

Unfortunately, Ello is currently invite-only. Go to their website to sign up for the waiting list.