It’s been a while since the world saw a new breakout social network, but that time may be upon us, and things are looking interesting.

Ello is a recent independent social network, which is currently invite-only, and completely ad-free.  They also boast that they have zero interest in tracking or monitoring user data, to the extent that some have dubbed it the “anti-Facebook”.

While none of this sounds terribly revolutionary for a social network, Ello co-founder Paul Budnitz stresses that Facebook doesn’t even qualify for the description any longer. 

“The advertisers are the customer and the user is the product that's being bought and sold,” he tells Mashable.  “We don't see ourselves competing with them, because what we're doing feels so different.”

Ello’s primary goal is to treat users as consumers, not a product to be sold to the highest bidder.  In order to make money, they rely on a premium version of the network, that will allow access to a larger suite of features for a few dollars. 

“We want to make a successful business that makes money, but it doesn't have to be a $30 billion company,” Budnitz said.