At about 10pm last night the internet was reverberating with word of a new social network. Ello was causing mass excitement as hundreds of people faithfully shared the headline 'the invite-only social network Facebook users are 'fleeing' to'.

Interestingly we also saw a lot of skepticism just two hours in to launch. Some wrote it off as another 'new hipster' network while others said it was doomed to the same fate as Path, App.net and Google +. One thing was clear, loads of people wanted in on the beta launch...we even caught Emily Bell having a little moan about her lack of access, quite understandably.

The gang at Battenhall got in early, bashed things around and have done the reading for you. Here's a quick overview of all you need to know so far:

Ello is keen to let you know, you are not a product. This platform (currently) does not intend to sell your data.

The network is ad free. Sweet relief!

Ello is free to use - as such they plan to introduce special features which users can pay for at some point. We're very interested to see what these will look like.

They make it very easy to delete your page - big fat button, you can't miss it. You are not being forcibly held.

The design of the network is extremely pleasing. Clean, simple and beautiful. It was made by designers and artists at design studio Berger & Föhr - that explains that then.

We've heard people moaning about glitches and it being buggy but we say just a few hours in following a viral 'sign me up' tidal wave...give these guys a break. It's free, pretty slick and they're probably pooped.

So what do you get?

A nice profile as you'd expect (profile pic, header image and a bio), the ability to add friends - there's a nice visual panel of them. You can post status updates, pictures and GIFs, comment on posts and even see how many people have viewed your post.

More features are on the way, they say they'll be coming through daily - but we're satisfied for now - this is a beta after-all. We're just enjoying having a new platform to play with.

Fancy a go, drop us a comment below and we'll add you in...we've each got a handful of invites! We'd love to know what you think of it so far...