AOL wants to Shut or Sell Bebo

[arista]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2010/apr/07/aol-sell-or-shut-bebo



It may end up Closed for good,



Facebook Rules the Planet.



Sign Of The Times.

[Firewire]

oh well. the only people that care for bebo are chavs.

[Ruth*Star]

^lol, I had a bebo, when i was like 12/13.

[Twilight]

Meh bebo is for chavs so idc;P

[arista]

^lol, I had a bebo, when i was like 12/13.


Yes it is for the Younger ones
and the problems dealing with them
is not making AOL any Cash.
AOL was joined with Time Warner
but now the are not.



Life In The City.

[arista]

Meh bebo is for chavs so idc;P



Yes I think Harry is on bebo

[Harry!]

Yes I think Harry is on bebo

Um I am not a chav nor do I use bebo, ok.

[arista]

Um I am not a chav nor do I use bebo, ok.


OK you used to use it.

[Harry!]

OK you used to use it.

Never used it at all.

[\PJ/]

Never used it.

[arista]

Never used it.


Its not making cash
like Facebook.


Close it down is best.

[rapunza1977]

Bebo = the site for neds!

[sammyboi]

i used to love bebo, it slowly got worse, and then aol took over.
it needs to be sold, and completly relaunched ;D

[MrGaryy]

No company in their right mind would buy that sinking ship.

[Iceman]

The announcement that AOL is likely to close or sell off the social networking site Bebo comes as no surprise to industry watchers, marking the latest in a string of acquisitions that seem to have become the kiss of death for web startups.

Two years after an $850m (£748m) cash deal that surprised even the most optimistic pundits, AOL has said it can no longer fund the social media service and yesterday told employees it would sell the site or close it completely this year.

Bebo's popularity peaked in 2008, at about the time of the sale, but steadily declined as Facebook aggressively expanded its international user base, particularly in the UK.

According to figures from ComScore, Bebo's global unique visitors in February totalled 12.8 million, which was down 45% on February 2009. Facebook had 462 million visitors, MySpace nearly 110 million, and Twitter 69.5 million.

One source close to the company said Bebo had suffered from AOL's strategic changes and a lack of funding that made it impossible for the site to compete with Facebook, which now dominates the social networking market.

The source described Bebo's demise as the inevitable outcome when digital media startups are bought by more established companies. "You set out with a certain strategy and aim for a certain user experience, and they change it," the source said. "They get rid of staff and cut costs, and it still doesn't work. Years go by and the business declines. And it's not unique to Bebo – look at Friends Reunited, Skype, MySpace ..."

Another source described the lack of funding by AOL as critical to Bebo's struggle since it was bought. "Bebo needed investment and engineers. At one point, we had 40 engineers when Facebook had something like 2,000. You can't produce a good product fast enough at that scale. In fact you can't even keep the site running properly."

At its peak, Bebo was the most popular website for younger teens. The company, founded by UK developer Michael Birch and his partner Xochi in 2005, moved to San Francisco, where it grow virally with its biggest audiences in the UK and Ireland.

Bebo hosted a number of well-publicised web video dramas including KateModern, which attracted significant media attention and advertising, but were essentially designed to market the site as a media-focused property and make it more attractive for sale, a campaign successfully overseen by former Google executive Joanna Shields.

Shields was the architect of the cash sale but subsequently left AOL in May 2009 and launched a digital media content venture with Elisabeth Murdoch's Shine Group four months later. Earlier this month Shields left the Shine joint venture to take a senior sales and business development role at Facebook Europe.



I used to use this but now its just like a paedos paradise....

also AOL losing 850 million on this makes me laugh...

[Beastie]

Had this story already.

[Iceman]

my mistake.....was lookng at news stories couldnt see it...

[Ramsay]

so many memories from bebo :bawling:

[Beastie]

my mistake.....was lookng at news stories couldnt see it...

Can't be arsked to go find it. lol

[Iceman]

Can't be arsked to go find it. lol

i just found it lol, a mod can merge.....if they want id say the effort of it though...

[Iceman]

thanks to whoever merged this

[Beastie]

Lol thanks merger.

[Patrick]

It wont go, and all the people who say its for chavs need to actually go on it without just saying somthing you may of heard.

Every social site has a downfall.

Myspace is easily the worse Social Site of all time and Bebo has done very well, I remember it was extremley popular in 2008.

Unfortunatly AOL made a mess of it, and thats why its lost some of its users however alot of people still check their profiles reguarly.

It can regain its users it just needs to be original and do somthing new again, Getting rid of it would be a mega loss.

Facebook is dull and boring and the only reason I use it is for the funny pages.

Bebo has alot more to it.

Myspace is just a **** hole with Americans looking for recording contracts.

Twitter has had its 15 minutes of fame and now its dead.

Facebook will come to an end soon.


We need a new site to be hoenst, somthing new!

[Patrick]

It wont go, and all the people who say its for chavs need to actually go on it without just saying somthing you may of heard.

Every social site has a downfall.

Myspace is easily the worse Social Site of all time and Bebo has done very well, I remember it was extremley popular in 2008.

Unfortunatly AOL made a mess of it, and thats why its lost some of its users however alot of people still check their profiles reguarly.

It can regain its users it just needs to be original and do somthing new again, Getting rid of it would be a mega loss.

Facebook is dull and boring and the only reason I use it is for the funny pages.

Bebo has alot more to it.

Myspace is just a **** hole with Americans looking for recording contracts.

Twitter has had its 15 minutes of fame and now its dead.

Facebook will come to an end soon.


We need a new site to be hoenst, somthing new!

[Iceman]

It wont go, and all the people who say its for chavs need to actually go on it without just saying somthing you may of heard.

Every social site has a downfall.

Myspace is easily the worse Social Site of all time and Bebo has done very well, I remember it was extremley popular in 2008.

Unfortunatly AOL made a mess of it, and thats why its lost some of its users however alot of people still check their profiles reguarly.

It can regain its users it just needs to be original and do somthing new again, Getting rid of it would be a mega loss.

Facebook is dull and boring and the only reason I use it is for the funny pages.

Bebo has alot more to it.

Myspace is just a **** hole with Americans looking for recording contracts.

Twitter has had its 15 minutes of fame and now its dead.

Facebook will come to an end soon.


We need a new site to be hoenst, somthing new!

According to figures from ComScore;
Facebook had 462 million visitors,
MySpace nearly 110 million,
Twitter 69.5 million,
Bebo had 12.8 million,


Also when i posted this i went onto my old page, it really is so kiddish looking and is perfect for people preying on kids.....

[Beastie]

I still have Bebo but don't think I have logged on it in like a year or something. lol Still have myspace but have not logged in that since last October. I have facebook and pop on that once every few days. I have Twitter and go on that usually when I have to sign in to look at someone's Twitter if it is on private or something lol :)

[GypsyGoth]

I was one of the few in my class who didn't have a bebo account. I hope it does get closed.

[Patrick]

According to figures from ComScore;
Facebook had 462 million visitors,
MySpace nearly 110 million,
Twitter 69.5 million,
Bebo had 12.8 million,


Also when i posted this i went onto my old page, it really is so kiddish looking and is perfect for people preying on kids.....

It was probably childish looking because you made it when you were young.

Bebo Profiles stand out, they can be unique, they are nice to look at, you do what you want with them.

Facebook profiles are boring, blue and white and dull and theres nothing to do with them, you cant even add a theme or anything.

And that count was obviously from recently when Bebo started suffering in the UK, In 2008 Bebo was at the very top of all them.

Myspace is also a desert now so I find it hard to belive it got more than Twitter.

[Iceman]

It was probably childish looking because you made it when you were young.

Bebo Profiles stand out, they can be unique, they are nice to look at, you do what you want with them.

Facebook profiles are boring, blue and white and dull and theres nothing to do with them, you cant even add a theme or anything.

And that count was obviously from recently when Bebo started suffering in the UK, In 2008 Bebo was at the very top of all them.

Myspace is also a desert now so I find it hard to belive it got more than Twitter.

Yeah but that was 2 years ago, in the current climate they dont have the money or time trying to inject money into something that is gettin so few million visitors.

I can change the colour of my facebook on my settings on my pc though, i havent its just to point out you can. i really like the plain look of it, its what makes it Facebook...

Twitter is where the celebs are at so it doesnt surprise me that it gets a fair few more than bebo...

As for myspace i dont have it and never have done....

[Z]

I used to love Bebo but it started changing its appearance, I assume this was due to AOL's takeover, and I was put off and switched to Facebook. I actually looked at my account today before I read this article, I didn't log in, last time I did was February, but I haven't had a comment since October - that comment being one from a friend saying how nobody uses Bebo anymore. That ship is sinking; nobody will buy it.

[Iceman]

I used to love Bebo but it started changing its appearance, I assume this was due to AOL's takeover, and I was put off and switched to Facebook. I actually looked at my account today before I read this article, I didn't log in, last time I did was February, but I haven't had a comment since October - that comment being one from a friend saying how nobody uses Bebo anymore. That ship is sinking; nobody will buy it.

Yeah I agree, i checked the last 4 comments on my page.....they were all people asking me to give them the link for my facebook page, i just thought irony.

[Twilight]

myspace is amazing, some real talent as been discovered on there Twenty Twenty,NeverShoutNever! and more<3

[Tom4784]

Myspace isn't really a sinking ship it's just that the casual crowd has moved onto Facebook, Myspace is more about music these days then anything but saying that I haven't used mine in months.