Time Warner’s AOL Internet division will buy social network Bebo for $850 million in cash, bolstering its consumer Internet offerings even as the media conglomerate mulls splitting off the business.
Bebo, which claims a global membership of about 40 million users, is the top social network in Britain, Ireland and New Zealand, it said. It is No. 3 in the United States behind News Corp’s MySpace and Facebook.
“Bebo’s dynamic management team recognizes that the Internet is less about destination and more about connecting people, culture and lifestyles,” AOL President Ron Grant said in a statement.
Whoop-de-doo. Think they’ll screw it up?
Why try to demonstrate skill and creativity? Why show us what you’ve grown from this wonderful merger?
Nah. Buy a social network and try to keep from sending it out the bottom.
And until AOL made their announcement, had you ever knew of a Bebo social network before?
What a dumb name, it means “I drink” in portuguese and spanish. Maybe they’re building a worldwide social network of drunks.
I’ve never heard of Bebo. Why spend 850 million on it? How many current users could they be buying?
Couldn’t you create something from scratch for much cheaper?
Goodness, I have to wonder about the brains in those corporate suits.
I’ve heard of MySpace, LiveJournal, and Yahoo Groups, but not Bebo. AOL is buying a pig in a poke.
The only person I’ve ever heard mention Bebo is John C. Dvorak (dvorak.org/blog) several times when covering or discussing social networks. Mmmm, do you think AOL is betting $850 million just on his opinion? John, you may be much more important than you think.
I would think that association to “AOL” would be the kiss of death for Bebo. It does have a great user interface, however.