In the past week, social network Ello gained much more traction than even its seven founders anticipated. Ello co-founder Paul Budnitz said requests and approvals for access to the invite-only service were totaling 40,000 per hour. CNN’s Sara Ashley O’Brien reported on the fledgling social network seeking input from industry experts including Brian Solis.

Sara reported that the LGBT community is embracing the site after being kicked off Facebook due to its “real” name policy. That, along with the promise of no advertising, are the reasons why some are calling it the “anti-Facebook.”

But maintaining relevancy in a crowded social networking market won’t be easy. A cyberattack that prevented users from accessing the site over the weekend is the least of Ello’s problems.

Here’s why according to Sara’s research…

It has to appeal to the vast majority — not just a few loud dissenters.

It’s really just the “vocal few” that take issues with Facebook’s design or access to user data, according to Brian Solis, principal analyst at Altimeter Group. Feeling like a “product” isn’t a universally felt complaint.

“As much as we love to hate [Facebook], they’ve done a really good job on focusing attention,” said Solis. “The time spent on Facebook is unheard of — and its not a fluke.”

“You get one shot at it,” said Solis. “If that network is open for beta, then it better be open for scale.”

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