Bebo

Associated With

Bebo, Inc. - creator and operator, social-network brand

Defining Feature

User profiles supporting pictures, blogs, messages, whiteboards, comments and privacy controls

Status

Historical service: AOL sold substantially all of Bebo’s assets on 16 June 2010; that sale date does not establish the service’s closure date.

Overview

Bebo centred online social life on personal profiles filled with photos, blogs and messages between friends.

Founded in 2005, the service also supported whiteboards, quizzes, polls and comments. These visible interactions made each profile the centre of a user's online community.

Profiles were private by default, while blocking stopped specified members from sending mail or posting in profile areas. AOL acquired Bebo in 2008 and sold substantially all of its assets in 2010.

Why It Mattered

It captured a period when decorating a profile and writing on somebody’s page were central parts of being social online. Bebo’s rapid growth brought youth privacy and safety into focus, while its acquisition and later sale illustrated how quickly social networks could rise and lose ground.

Bebo User Profiles

• Bebo described its original service as profiles where users posted pictures, wrote blogs and sent messages.
• Bebo told Parliament that the service was founded in 2005.
• Profiles also supported whiteboards, quizzes, photos, polls and comments.

Profile Safety Controls

• Bebo told Parliament that profiles were private by default from inception.
• Blocking prevented a member from sending mail or posting to specified profile areas.

AOL Ownership

• AOL completed its acquisition of Bebo on 14 May 2008 for $859.8 million net of cash acquired.
• AOL sold substantially all Bebo assets on 16 June 2010.
• AOL reported an approximately $1.8 million pre-tax loss on the sale.

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