John Battelle's Searchblog

But, wouldn't it make sense to buy today what will be hot next year while it is still dirt cheap? :-)

What does Bebo do that would make people want to use it instead of MySpace or Facebook? What do they offer that is unique? This is not clear to me. I don't see it.

Whether it's unique or not, does not matter in the advertisement world. Does it? Now, what's hot, that matters. And the Bebo buzz is definately heating up.

It'd be a good start if Bebo fixed up their frontpage and stopped referring to university as "college" for countries where college actually means high school.

I agree with John here. It's a slick product and if integrated smartly could pull some MySpace kids over. In any case it would be a nice hedge in case Myspace suddenly loses it's cool factor.
On a different Murdoch acquisition question regarding Fox Interactive when will Rupert announce his search engine choice? Shortly after Carmel last summer he said he was close to taking controlling interest in a search engine. Everyone thought it would be Blinkz, it wasn't.
He bought Truelocal.au.com for his Aussie properties but I don't think that counts.
In April he said he would announce his search engine in May.... better hurry.
Now we see a rumor floated that he is considering MSN or Google?
I'll take long odds it's not Google!

>>What does Bebo do that would make people want to use it >>instead of MySpace or Facebook?

It's not a "do" (functionality) question--Battelle's right that it's an "is" (cultural/brand/fashion) question. zefrank's the show turns that insight into comedy, and strategy. "Knowledge" uses inside jokes and non-sequitur show intros followed by the rhetorical "are the new viewers gone yet?" to delight us. "All the more subtle laws of style have their origin at this point: they at the same time keep away, create a distance, forbid "entrance," understanding, as said above--while they open the ears of those whose ears are related to ours."

(Forgive me, ze.) myspace meanwhile cannot keep away sexual predators--to say nothing of other monsters, such as the media and parents.

If I were calling myspace's shots, I would consider eventful and the tools it provides for bands to interact with fans--myspace's original, winning formula. eventful's service for people to "demand" a performance or event seems tailor made for a community of musicians and music lovers.

So then Bebo's line of promotion should be: Use Bebo: We have Fewer Sexual Predators than MySpace.

That to me does not seem to be a big enough draw, since if they get bigger, they will have the same number that MySpace does. One of these groups has to be able to offer something new and creative if they want to prosper. If it is just offering the same stuff with different graphics . . . I have my doubts.

MySpace is just to large now as it is. Social site will come and go but the really popular ones will last a few years. Bebo may be good and all but a little late in the game for them. No one is willing to switch over unless all their friend go as well. For this reason MySpace will be around for quite a while before going out of style.

Bryan Henry
http://techntoons.blogspot.com

Hi, Maybe it is different in the UK (topsy-turvy) but my older daughter and her friends all used Bebo for about 2 years before they discovered MySpace. They dumped Bebo for MySpace about a year ago.

FWIW, I just saw a co-branded TV commercial featuring HP and MySpace on AMC channel.
It's the first TV ad I've seen for MySpace. HP's slogan in the ad was something to the effect of "make your computer real personal".
Might we see a Fox Interactive/HP version of the Google/Dell deal soon once Murdoch secures a search engine?

Myspace may lose its cool factor, but it won't lose its Gap factor. It has become the de fecto brand name; the Coca Cola of social networking.

Like it or not, it is here to stay and will continue to be a presence. It is engrained in the everykid's vernacular and for some, their "Myspace" is now a necessity just as a phone number or email adress. It's where they are found. The tentacles of this community (i.e., friends network on Myspace) are too organic and weed like.

And this weed has definitely taken over.

Bebo may be able to strike a niche (and a VERY small one at that) with, say authors and their readers in the same way as Myspace has done with bands/artists.

But I must agree with most other posters on this...I just don't see any compelling differences between Bebo and Myspace and Facebook.

Actually, I thought JB's post was tongue in cheek. John, care to weigh in on this?

A quick update on Bebo:

Bebo overtakes MySpace in the UK

Will the same happen in the US? Not anytime soon... However, you make a good point - Rupert should buy them.

Best,

Jeremy

Every one i know (pretty much) has bebo, and im 16. I only know a couple of people who use myspace, and they also have bebo accounts.

Personally, i think that Bebo is quirky and more indivual than myspace. It links me with all my friends so i can look at all their pictures etc.

I love Bebo Every one i know (pretty much) has bebo, and im 16. I only know a couple of people who use myspace, and they also have bebo accounts.

Personally, i think that Bebo is quirky and more indivual than myspace. It links me with all my friends so i can look at all their pictures etc.

I love Bebo Every one i know (pretty much) has bebo, and im 16. I only know a couple of people who use myspace, and they also have bebo accounts.

Personally, i think that Bebo is quirky and more indivual than myspace. It links me with all my friends so i can look at all their pictures etc.

I love Bebo Every one i know (pretty much) has bebo, and im 16. I only know a couple of people who use myspace, and they also have bebo accounts.

Personally, i think that Bebo is quirky and more indivual than myspace. It links me with all my friends so i can look at all their pictures etc.

I love Bebo

Ha ha!

i think she meant :

I love Bebo Every one i know (pretty much) has bebo, and im 16. I only know a couple of people who use myspace, and they also have bebo accounts.

Personally, i think that Bebo is quirky and more indivual than myspace. It links me with all my friends so i can look at all their pictures etc.

I love Bebo

Ha ha

Bebo is used widely beacuse it is easy to use. There is no confusing hmtl tags and that. I love using bebo its a great site and much better than myspace. I find Myspace confusing and rubbish. Bebo has unique things like uploading your own videos and making your own skins. The school format is easyto use as well.

Bebo are the best
Kat

I think that bebo is so much better than myspace, i have accounts on both of them.
I find bebo much easer to use and most of my friends have it.
The hmtl tags are confusing and hard to use... i tried to add a backround onto my homepage on myspace and it just will not load.
so personally i think bebo is much better!!
Bebo wins my vote :P

Hmmmmm... I only just discovered myspace.com this year, and have been using bebo for quite some time. I am 16 years old and find that all my overseas friends use bebo, but all my close-to-home friends use Myspace....So i struggle with the dilemma with whether to keep up with one or the other...

I personally would rather all my friends join bebo instead... It is WAY less complicated than myspace and is a lot less messy....with all that html crap.

Haha...go hard bebo!

i love bebo its great, but i think myspace has better profiles and bebo is easier to use.

"Every one i know (pretty much) has bebo, and im 16. I only know a couple of people who use myspace, and they also have bebo accounts.

Personally, i think that Bebo is quirky and more indivual than myspace. It links me with all my friends so i can look at all their pictures etc."

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Wow that truly confused me I am really tired and read the whole thing and I was like surly that just repeated it self then I was like naaaaa im just to tired. It was only after i stared at the screen for a few seconds that i cliked.

"Hi, Maybe it is different in the UK (topsy-turvy) but my older daughter and her friends all used Bebo for about 2 years before they discovered MySpace. They dumped Bebo for MySpace about a year ago."

Im 16 next year and im currently in a band that doesn lots of local gigs. we have a page on myspace and a recently made one on bebo. we have been using myspace for aboutr 2 years - basically scince i have -. i decided to create the bebo account because most of the people in my school havnt discovered myspace yet, probably because they dont understand html. Today i must admit i found a big problem with bebo. i was advertising my upcoming gig on myspace by commenting wiht an image of the flyer. i then realised i could advertise more locally using bebo. i typed in the html code in the comment box on bebo and was amazed when i found that bebo dosent let you add image tags. it allows text tags but not image tags. this means i cant boldy advertise in comments or - more importantly - share images in comments.

Is it just me or was bebo set up for image sharing?????

thanks! jack x

ok, first of all I think it is hilarious that these teenagers are all going *blah* to html. - typical of todays genre of that age group I believe. Why are teens so lazy? Anyway, as far as I can tell there is not much difference between myspace, bebo, or facebook. They are giants and so full of nothing its almost unbearable. My husband visited facebook for the first time today and this is what he said... "its like a meat market in here. they are all stacked up like cars in a chinese parking garage, with their grillz pressed against the display window. I wondered why they are so big, and the only thing I can come up with is because those are the only ones to choose from. So I created itsachat.com

Here is a social networking site that is new and fresh. It has all that the others have to offer (except better flash chat rooms and an eazy html builder, which those others do not offer) blogging, video's, chats, message board, profiles, private message, on site instant messenger, photo galleries and ratings, site ranking competitions and an arcade.

Lets not have bebo, myspace and facebook run the social side of the entire world wide web!!