Social network Ello may be one letter short of “Hello” but from the way it’s business is going, it may be the giant Facebook that ultimately may come up short – of users. The newest social network is in beta at Ello.co and only signs up new users by invitation of people who already have profiles.

Ello makes no qualms about who it’s after in marketing copy on its site and the company’s building block is a simple, bare platform without ads; the network also promises not to sell user data to third parties. These promises are driving an average of 35,000 new people per hour to the beta version, according to CNET.

The Ello team is tinkering with features and kinks in the site. It’s generally similar to Facebook with user profiles featuring photos, bio and other personal sections to fill out. One key differentiating factor, however, is that Ello users can select their contacts as “friend” or “noise,” with the latter’s post sent to a separate news feed (similar to Facebook’s secondary message inbox). Users can also write notes or blogs and post short updates and images.

Ello’s founder Paul Budnitz didn’t anticipate the site would take off as fast as it has, but told NBC News his team was taking it in stride. He hasn’t disclosed future plans on how the site could monetize. Disruption seems to be theme, as the the New York Daily News pointed out snark in Ello’s FAQ’s page post – written with quintessential Silicon Valley start-up zing – that the site may “never be worth $30 billion like Facebook” (because its ad-free).

With iOS and Android apps in the works, Ello wants to position itself as a conscientious social network while having some fun at Google and Facebook’s expense. “We’re not interested in ruling the world,” an excerpt on its FAQ page reads. “We think people that are motivated to do things like that have unresolved psychological problems.”