I called it at least 6 months ago, possibly a year ago. But I will put it here in writing for proof: Bebo is the “next big social network”. That’s right. I said it. Hopefully I am not wrong, as I hate being wrong. But I think I am right here. And Molly Wood from CNET’s Buzz Out Loud apparently said the same thing as well.
You want proof of my prophecy? Well, the tea leaves show:
- Nice user interface that feels like a mashup of Facebook and Myspace.
- although virb.com is much nicer in this space, they don’t have the critical mass in users yet.
- Community voice that is a little snarky, but not to an annoying degree.
- Rates of growth that are equal to or greater than Facebook
- Itunes integration coming soon
- Proof of concept is strong in Ireland and England where market penetration is rather high in the teen/early-twenties demo.
So, if I am wrong, it won’t be the first time. But signs are pointing toward it.
I’m on there at http://fizmo.bebo.com
technorati tags:bebo, myspace, facebook, itunes, apple, online-community, tween, virb, teen, music
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Joi Podgorny 
Interesting blog 🙂
I’d just offer one view from over here in the UK. Over here Bebo is seen as the realm of the younger kids and by younger I mean kids generally pre teen or younger teenagers. Then kids seem to move to Myspace until they get to Uni (or stay emo..) and move onto Facebook. So at least in this country Bebo struggles to get credability from the older audience in the same way that facebook isn’t grabbing the younger crowd.
It’ll be interesting to see how it does stateside 🙂
its cool
I find this idea of The Children’s Fire very moving and heanrig Mac talk when he came to Plawhatch Farm in Sussex was inspiring. I’d really love to hear people’s thoughts on how to rekindle the Children’s Fire: ritesforgirls.com/the-childrens-fire/