Bebo Social Networking Site Review

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Bebo Star Rating

At Star Reviews, we pride ourselves in staying on top of what’s hot in the Internet world. That’s why some of us were so shocked when Bebo started getting media attention. Most of us had never heard of or used this particular site, yet it was being labeled as one of the top social networking sites on the Internet. Is the hype right? Might Bebo one day rival MySpace? We decided to check it out for ourselves.

What’s New?

Bebo Groups – A module that lets you view different school groups or other organizations
Bebo Authors – Lets authors upload parts of their books for review by other members

Star Reviews Favorite Feature:
New Music Only on Bebo-Many music artists, including big names like Slipknot and Justin Timberlake have their own pages at Bebo. Users can become fans and can be updated about the latest artist news through the pages.

Bebo Features:

White board where friends and guests can leave fun, creative messages for you
Upload photos and videos
Featured artists and authors
Create your own polls and slideshows

About Bebo:
Bebo was created by Michael and Xochi Birch in 2005 as a social networking site similar to MySpace and their competition. What makes Bebo different is the more casual, fun tone of the site. Instead of feeling overly commercial like some other social networking sites, the conversational and humorous text on the Bebo site gives it some 'extra personality.'

Finding Friends at Bebo:
Bebo may have plenty of members, but connecting with those members can be a real challenge. If you don’t already have people to invite from your existing address book, then your only option is to use their limited search capabilities to find people with similar interests. For example, we searched for “Pink Floyd” and did end up with results of other Bebo users who were fans. Of course, we still had to dig through plenty of options to find people with whom we shared other interests. You can also do a name search, but that’s only useful if you know who you want to look for.

Signing Up for Bebo:
Joining Bebo is fairly straightforward. You need to enter your name, your birthday, your gender, and your email address and in turn, you’re given the option of checking your existing email account’s address book for current Bebo members. Next, you’ll be able to complete your profile which includes contact information (you enter whatever you feel comfortable sharing with the public), favorite music, your bio, and other facts about you. Then you’ll be prompted to add at least one photo to your profile (this is, of course, optional). You’re walked through every step which makes the process very easy.

Pricing & Ads:
Bebo’s services are free to use. Of course, you will find some ads on the site – mostly from major advertisers. The profile pages themselves do not seem to include much advertising.

Customer Support:
Most social networking sites have limited customer support options, but we were surprised by just how limited Bebo’s were. They have a grand total of about 13 FAQ’s under their Help section. While the answers are pretty detailed, they are leaving out plenty of important questions. A video called Finding Bebo, which was created by a user, is also available as an overview of how to use the service.

Bebo does have a contact option thankfully, and we did receive an email from them the same day we submitted our question. However, when we asked “How old do you need to be in order to join?” the response we received provided us with instructions on how to sign up. Our actual question wasn’t answered, which we didn't love.

Upside:
Free. Fewer ads than many of the competitors.

Downside:
Hard to track down new friends. Limited customer support.

Bebo Summary:
We liked some things about Bebo. The limited advertising was definitely a plus in our book, for example. However, we agreed that in our social networking site reviews we needed to see some unique features that make the site stand out from the rest. Sadly, Bebo doesn’t really stand out. They offer the same types of services as MySpace and others but with major drawbacks such as the limited ability to connect with other members. When we compare social networking sites, Bebo just doesn’t go that extra mile.

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