[url]http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8606379.stm[/url]
[quote=BBC News][b]Internet company AOL has announced plans to sell or shut down the social networking site Bebo.[/b]
The company said it was unable to provide the "significant investment" Bebo needed to compete with its social networking rivals.
The news comes just two years after AOL bought the site for $850m (£417m at the time).
A strategic evaluation of the company is expected to be completed by the end of May.
Buyers will be sought for the company, but analysts expect the selling price to be significantly lower than the price paid by AOL.
Bebo has been struggling against more popular rivals such as Facebook, AOL said.
"Bebo, unfortunately, is a business that has been declining and, as a result, would require significant investment in order to compete in the competitive social networking space," Jon Brod of AOL Ventures told employees in an e-mail.
"AOL is committed to working quickly to determine if there are any interested parties for Bebo."
[b]Declining users[/b]
Bebo employs about 40 people, mostly in the US.
Although founded in San Francisco, Bebo has failed to make up any ground on rivals within the US, despite being more popular in other markets, including the UK.
According to figures from research company ComScore, Bebo has 5.1 million users in the US.
That is down from 5.8 million this time last year, and compares with the massive 210 million users of market leader Facebook.
The planned disposal of Bebo is a sign of AOL's attempts to streamline its business since its demerger from Time Warner last year.
AOL itself struggling to compete against the increasing number of internet companies, after establishing itself as a pioneer of early dial-up internet in the 1990s.[/quote]
Whoever designed Bebo should be shot, shit was so awful. Social networks should never allow people to customise their profile designs, 99% of people are stupid and will use a shit eye-destroying design.
MySpace sucks too, it's got a really counter-intuitive profile layout and the only people using it these days are bands. If Facebook whipped out band support MySpace would be dead within months.
[editline]11:31AM[/editline]
Another thing that's just absurd about Bebo and MySpace is the whole "top friends" thing. You're really expected to [i]rank your friends?[/i]
Bebo was alright :\
I remember when it was the hottest thing in school. Then we turned 14.
I think I have a bebo account from a few years back...
I'll be right back, I'm going to see if I can still figure out what my username was, or if I can log in...
Yeah, apparently I do have a bebo account, and now I'm feeling pretty embarrassed about how awkward I was in 7th grade... :silent:
I deleted mine, wish I hadn't, could be funny.
Facebook is better.
You hear that sound? That's the sound of a million chavs crying.
[QUOTE=rieda1589;21245703]You hear that sound? That's the sound of a million chavs crying.[/QUOTE]
You hear [i]that[/i] sound? It's the sound of no-one giving a shit.
I swear I came instantly when I found out Facebook used your REAL NAME instead of xX omg dave ROCKIN UR WORLD 2K10 Xx
I've only been to Bebo once to look at a friends profile and it was eye rape, I hope Bebo burns for allowing that.
I had a bebo when I was 11, so many awkward comments...
I don't see how anyone can compete with Facebook. It's pretty much perfect. No shitty layout, no gimmicks, and all the features you need.
[QUOTE=CivilProtection;21245834]I don't see how anyone can compete with Facebook. It's pretty much perfect. No shitty layout, no gimmicks, and all the features you need.[/QUOTE]
It's far from perfect, but it is the best that's out there at the moment.
[QUOTE=CivilProtection;21245834]I don't see how anyone can compete with Facebook. It's pretty much perfect. No shitty layout, no gimmicks, and all the features you need.[/QUOTE]
dis right ere. Only big thing I don't like about Facebook is how often they fix what isn't broken. I mean I didn't mind at first but they make big changes all the time to things that aren't being complained about.
[editline]11:57AM[/editline]
Oh and I guess all the "JOIN, SEND TO ALL UR FRENDS AND THEN U C DIS FUNNY PIC!!" groups but that's not their fault.
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWaLxFIVX1s[/media]
TBH I had it when I was 13 or something.
"Waah, init blud."
[QUOTE=smurfy;21245690]I deleted mine, wish I hadn't, could be funny.[/QUOTE]
Heh, i just looked back on my really old posts on other forums.
Good lord.
"I AM AIMING FOR 1ST RANK ON CSS SERVER, I PLAYED 3 HOURS OF CSS YESTURDAY XD ROFL I AM TIRED 0_0"
Shit there's going to be a influx of chavs on Facebook now.
rofl 40 people
Man, i used to have one. To be honest i don't even use it anymore. No one else likes it. I only kept my account cause i was subscribed to a nice blog on there that gave me some nice ps3 news, but now they are starting to give up on bebo also.
I didn't know anyone actually ever used it.
I hated Bebo, shit was for gangsters and cool cunts. If only they were real gangsters and cool cunts.
[QUOTE=CoolCorky;21245709]You hear [i]that[/i] sound? It's the sound of no-one giving a shit.[/QUOTE]
you sir have cunt written all over you
[QUOTE=Talkbox;21246658]you sir have cunt written all over you[/QUOTE]
That wasn't a cunt thing to say.
I can't stand sites that let people customize their own pages. God I get so sick of pages full of sparkly text covering the screen or stupid pictures everywhere.
At least Facebook looks tidy.
We can't let it close.
The idiots will flood to Facebook.
SHIT
Good. It really was a dreadful website. I deleted my account years ago.
bout 2 years ago my school was using it like crack, now they all immigrated onto facebook.
Noooo, I use bebo :frown:
[QUOTE=Ryzo;21246728]Noooo, I use bebo :frown:[/QUOTE]
ru 12
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