1) WHAT IS BEBO?

• Bebo is a social network founded that brings together friends and companies. Users can create profiles on the site for free, stay connected with friends, watch videos, and listen to music. (source: MarketingCharts.com)
• Bebo’s official value proposition: “Bebo provides an open, engaging, and fun environment that empowers a new generation to discover, connect and express themselves.” (source: MarketingCharts.com)

2) BEBO INFO

• The name Bebo is an acronym for “Blog early, blog often.”
• In 2006, Bebo received the Webby Award People’s Vote for the best social networking site on the web.
• Bebo was bought by AOL in 2008 for $850 million. In April 2010, AOL announced it would either sell or pull the plug on Bebo within months.

3) BEBO STATISTICS

• Bebo is officially the largest social networking site in the UK, Ireland, and New Zealand, and is the third largest social networking site in the US behind only MySpace and Facebook.
• In February 2008, Bebo ranked 4th among a custom category of 55 social networks, after MySpace, Facebook and MyYearbook. It received 1.15% of all US visits to the category. Bebo was acquired by AOL on March 13, 2008.
• In January 2010, Bebo had 22.4 million unique visitors worldwide with visitors averaging more than 3 hours and 30 minutes on the site during the month. Of www.bebo.com’s total upstream traffic in Feb., 17.37% consisted of new visitors and 82.63% consisted of returning visitors. (source: MarketingCharts.com)

4) BEST PRACTICES

• Based on UK statistics comparing Facebook and Bebo, Bebo’s used more by the teenage years. So brands that focus their demographics to this age should consider using Bebo to market their brand. Also Bebo is 66% female used, so this is another demographic a company can use to their advantage when marketing their brand. (source: eConsultancy.com)

5) UNIQUE FEATURES

• One of Bebo’s unique features is the abuse button. A user can click this button when he/she feels harmed on the site. Bebo feels more social networking sites should use this button as well.