Parents' Guide to

Bebo

By Dana Anderson, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 16+

Like all social sites, some iffy content is here.

Website http://www.bebo.com/
Bebo Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this website.

Community Reviews

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age 11+

Based on 11 parent reviews

theKidThatBlog
theKidThatBlog Adult
October 14, 2022
age 2+

Was a good social media

I always liked the site of the old Bebo before it was changed. The website of Bebo was changed into just an "app" to run on phones which I did not use then it went from a phone "app" back to a social media for a web browser again, and everyone couldn't sign-up to register on the site but the people only can be referred by another Bebo user's that already was on the site. I thought Bebo was back when it was up and running as a web social media again, it was deceiving so I was disappointed. Bebo was a good social media site, I mean the way it was so it has been ruin to the core.

This title has:

Educational value
Great messages
Great role models
Easy to play/use
Dennan M.
Dennan M. Adult
November 6, 2017
age 16+

Isn’t up anymore !

Bebo used to me a great social networking site that competed with Facebook sadly now bebo is basically nothing lol but when it was up 16+

This title has:

Too much violence
Too much sex
Too much swearing
Too much consumerism
See all 11 parent reviews

What’s It About?

Already ranked the top social networking site in the U.K., Ireland, and New Zealand, BEBO.COM is next in line behind MySpace and Facebook in the U.S. as the place for teens and young adults to showcase their life in multimedia, keep in touch with and meet friends, or just hang out. The endless options for personal home page content are dizzying: Photos, organized by event or subject; YouTube videos; widgets, including a timed countdown to events; music; polls, like a celebrity look-alike photo game with the user as the real star; blogs and messages that others can also comment on; photos of friends with links of their own sites; a whiteboard that anyone can draw or write on (and the site "owner" can erase); and more.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (11 ):
Kids say (15 ):

Straight-up advertising is posted clearly on Bebo.com's main page. The more subversive advertising, however, comes in the form of "Featured Sponsored Profiles" and videos that look just like the kids' free sites, but when viewed are clearly promoting a product, movie, or other commercial venture.

Good News: Bebo.com's user rules and Internet safety guidelines, posted on the networking site's main page, are some of the most practical and thorough among social networking sites. Bad News: Not a shocker, but not all users follow those safety tips and some explicit sites find ways to get their links onto some pages. Some of the content posted by users includes the standard teen social networking bugaboos like the latest camera phone shots of partying teens downing beers in the rented limo. That said, site creators have established safety tools, like a "Report Abuse" click available on each member's profile. And they've established sound rules and guides, like remembering that your online "friends" are not really friends to be trusted. Probably the best safety feature of all? The Bebo.com option to only allow access to your home page to real-life friends and family.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about Internet safety and commercialism. What personal information is okay to post online? Also, which home pages are created specifically to sell you something, like the new Bratz movie or a band's latest album?

Website Details

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