29
Will Bebo Shut Down? Who Can Save BEBO?
The recent news released this week, AOL is reportedly deciding on what to do with it’s 850 million dollar venture. Should it shut down BEBO or sell it to another company. Hopefully they decide to sell it for Bebo’s sake. Shutting down the site with it’s users is such a downer way to go. It already has it’s own European following that awesomely continues to maintain the site bringing in new skins and applications, and socializing features. The site ran fine on it’s own before the purchase, but it stirred quite a few headaches once AOL forced it’s own profile system onto it.
Bebo’s Unique Visitor count has fallen from 5 million to 1.8 million.
What could have caused this downward trend?
To understand this story a bit better, we need to understand the mind of typical AOL user. AOL is mostly used for emails, and connecting with friends and that’s pretty much it. Whenever AOL enacts a change to the service, AOL members are up in arms over the change. You can put this into perspective with how the typical Facebook user dislikes any upgrades Facebook adds to enhance the site.
The major gripes with the AOL Bebo integration stemmed firstly from its drastic change from the previous profile system. AOL users are used to an open profile system with simplistic features and minimalistic approach. Privacy options were opt in features, so it made it extremely easy connect with other AOL and AIM members in chatrooms. The Bebo transition caused it’s first headache when all profiles were suddenly placed into private by default. Users who were unfamiliar with the system had difficulty finding features, some questioned how they could make their profiles public again.
AOL developers tried to ease the transition by transferring AOL Profile related features to Bebo. This resulted in what could be called a “two faced Bebo”. We’re not quite sure why but OLD AOL profiles who transferred to the profile system were allowed access to these exclusive modules. Any screennames created after the transition, were not allowed access to these modules and instead were forced to use Bebo’s own modules. The most important of these modules was the “Code Snippet” box which allowed HTML editing.
AOL has yet to fix their own Bebo Modules for four months now…
AOL users also had to worry about one extra thing, duplicate names. Some AOL users found themselves with profile urls using extra numbers due to an original BEBO user using the same name. This caused some confusion as it was thought that the original Bebo user stole their password, or some faulty glitch in the system.
On the flipside, the typical Bebo user are in there teens. They are interested in flashy gaudy websites, music, soccer, and pop stars. Each of their interests leans towards the U.K music industry.
Bebo users also had to make due to some changes, especially within the profile system and layout. The Login page now sported both a BEBO and AOL login form. The home page went through it’s own transition, now linking to AOL related products like Lifestream, AOL Mail and a To Do page.
The profile page went through a major transition, as now a flash timeline bar appears at the top, and several profile features were switched around spaced out further. The layout change spurred several hate groups with petitions to get the old profiles back. These groups pleaded for AOL to actually allow the option to choose the old profile layout. Unfortunately AOL did not listen to them. During the transition, BEBO users had to deal with server outages and broken features.
AOL Members just could not ever see any real value in Bebo. They described it as a “teeny bopper” site, and wondered why in the world AOL moved their profiles to a children’s site. Even teenage Americans had to put up with foreign concepts that were seemingly popular on Bebo. Ever heard of the Fittest girls? Chavs? Or how about Footy Girls? No? Believe me that has nothing to do with foot fetishes (sort of..) These are terms more often used in Europe rather than America. The types of music they listen to, the style, the shows, the drama, it was just a different experience, sort of like a culture shock…
The source described Bebo’s demise as the inevitable outcome when digital media startups are bought by more established companies. “You set out with a certain strategy and aim for a certain user experience, and they change it,” [via guardian]
I think this quote nicely described what happened to the two sites. You have a community aimed towards one market then switches to another market which then alienates the original core base.
Dear Bebo Public:
You have to realize that the way to save Bebo is to find a company who is willing to buy it. If AOL feels they are suffering a loss over the purchase of Bebo, the possible reasons to this could be due to mismanagement on their part and/or lack of revenue to cover the cost of hosting it. Realize that it’s not your fault for the demise of BEBO. It was an investment which AOL thought they could gain a profit from but in turn alienated both their own AOL members, as well as Bebo’s fan base. Realize that it can go either way. It may be cheaper for AOL to shut down Bebo rather than sell it to another company.
What can you do to save Bebo? Make your voice be heard!
There is no official text message petition statement from Vodafone. You are wasting your money. This is just Chain Mail.
Join ONE petition site to Save Bebo. It’s best to show a large number of signatures on one site rather than have 300 different petitions with 30 signatures each.
Make an organized effort to create a community of Bebo supporters.
Submit BEBO related news story to sites like DIGG, Mashable, Reddit, StumbleUpon.
Convince those who have left the site to return.
Use correct spelling and grammar when submitting news and commenting.
When you submit articles or communicate in news related sites, you have to show that you are intelligent enough to care about Bebo. The community of such sites expect a level of maturity and typing poorly worded phrases with blatant misspellings of “qettinq” with “q” replacing “g” just makes the cause look even sillier.
This “Save Bebo” seems to be on the right track. You need to show the potential buyer that this site is worth the investment due to the amount of monthly unique visitors, it’s click-through rate for advertisements, and the level of activity and buzz the site generates. Proxies aren’t really a great idea to generate unique visitors since they tend to use the same IP address. Remember, if there is hardly any activity on the site, there’s no point for anyone to buy it.
Unfortunately it still means you will be subject to the greed of whichever company buys you. You will again have to go through another transition period as you did with AOL. During this time, it’s best to show the new buyers what you actually want in the website.
Ideally a company that specializes in the European markets markets (UK, Germany, Italy, and especially Ireland) is a sure fire way to keep the community as active before. For now all I can think of is a company like Vodafone to purchase the website. Though, even they are going through financial hardships.
Good Luck!
27
Can’t Edit Buddy Info in Aim 7.3 Beta?
The buddy info option in Aim 7.3 beta is missing. AIM members are unable to edit the buddy info. Instead the buddy info button now links to AIM LIfestream. It’s possible that AIM Lifestream will act as the new profile page for AOL and AIM members, considering AOL has recent plans to either shut down or sell Bebo.
In order to update your buddy info you will need to use any version of AIM that is older than Aim 7.3.
We’ve recently found the reason why the buddy info is gone. Quoted from beta staff:
Good news! While Buddy Info is changing, you will (soon) have a place at Lifestream to provide the persistent information you used to place in Buddy Info!
Buddy Info will be returning, but as previously describe – in Lifestream. While it does require opening a browser window and signing in, the action of doing so from AIM will occur automatically and you shouldn’t have to manually sign in.
The steps being taken aren’t arbitrary, mind you. They’re coming with a bigger picture in mind and, hopefully, once we get there, you’ll fully approve. [via beta]
It appears AOL Lifestream will take place of the buddy info. It’s speculated Lifestream will become our new “profile system” as Bebo leaves AOL in May.
26
Removing your Full Name from AIM
Aim 7.3 beta which somehow became a mandatory update, added the option for users to add their full name to their screen name. The purpose behind it was for others to search for your screen name by just entering your name.
Although they could still find you by submitting their email contacts. A friend of mine noted how there was not a clear way of removing your full name if you opted into it for fun.
Taking off your Name from AIM
- Sign into AIM Full Name
- Uncheck Allow people to see my full name and find me in search results
- Click on First Name and Delete the entire text field
- Click on Last Name and Delete the entire text field
- Click Submit
If it worked properly it should say
“Your full name has been cleared. Thanks for updating your info on AIM!
To change your name, click here. “
Keep in mind the full name option does not apply to those who have manually added your real name as a nickname. Although, only they will see the name they typed.
If you have used the Plaxo service, you will have to remove your full name from there. Your name shows up to those whom you connected with.
You must clear both the First Name and Last Name text boxes before you press submit.
/p>
13
How to Connect and Sync Facebook with AIM
It appears there are those who don’t know how to chat with Facebook friends on AIM. Yes despite how there’s a huge banner that asks if you want to use Facebook Connect. Well maybe you closed it out or you really don’t understand the process, so here’s how you do it very quickly.
You need to download or use a specific version of AIM to start this process. You have only three choices:
These are the only three versions that include the new Facebook chat feature. While you are installing AIM, you can set up your Facebook account by going to the Aim Lifestream website.
f Connect allows third party websites like AOL to sign into Facebook
Head over to AIM Lifestream:
- Enter your AIM login details.
- Click on Settings in the top right corner.
- Click ADD near the Facebook Icon.
- Click fConnect.
- Enter your FACEBOOK login details.
Once you complete the process, your AIM screen name will be synced to your Facebook account. This synchronization will appear on all beta versions of AIM that support this feature. So you do not need to repeat these steps for each client. You can also add as many screen names as you want to the same Facebook account!
Within your buddy list check for the Facebook icon and full names of your friends on the buddy list.
Click that little Facebook Icon
To send a status update through AIM, you must activate the Facebook icon within the status update box. If you hover over the Facebook Icon it will say “Also update your status on Facebook (updating is OFF/ON).” If it’s turned on, it will first show up in your AIM Lifestream, and might take a while before it shows up in your actual Facebook profile.
If you click that little +photos icon at the top right corner you can also add post images to your Facebook Status. Pretty neat!
A sample of issues that affect AIM 7.2. Pay particular attention to the ones highlighted in purple, as your very likely to hit these problems through daily use.
- There can be a delay in seeing your Facebook friends go online, offline or idle.
- If you have a very large number of Facebook friends it can take a minute to load your AIM Buddy List, and you will not be able to IM until the Buddy List is loaded.
- Messages sent to an offline Facebook buddy will not be delivered when they come online.
- When you login to AIM as invisible, you will see a non-working “Sign In to Facebook Chat” prompt under your Facebook groups on the Buddy List, and in the Buddy List menu.
- An empty Facebook Friends group will appear on clients that are not Facebook enabled/capable
- If you are using IM forwarding to send IMs to your mobile device, you will receive, but not be able to reply, to messages from Facebook friends.
- Occasionally the association between AIM and Facebook account is lost with no visible user notification
- IMing Facebook friends while your AIM privacy is set to ‘Allow only users on my Buddy List’ causes IMs to be bounced back.
- Your Facebook friends’ status message from Facebook will not be shown in the AIM buddy list, next to their name.
Just like Bebo Friends, the “Facebook Friends“ buddy list group will get added to your buddy list and will stay permanently until you remove yourself from Facebook Connect.
Currently there may be a bug where your Facebook Friends group shows zero Friends online even though they are supposed to be on. As this bug is currently being researched the suggestions would be to ensure “online presence” is checked on the Facebook Privacy page. Also check that your buddy list privacy settings are not set to allow only users on my buddy list.
Facebook Application Settings
Also check for the following:
- On Facebook.com, Click Account
- Click Application Settings
- Click Edit Settings Under AIM
- Ensure “Log into Facebook Chat on my behalf” is checkmarked.
As the settings on this page are straightforward, having one of them unchecked means that feature would not work within AIM. Is Publish to Streams unchecked? Well you wouldn’t be able to update your facebook status through AIM would you?
10
Aim 7.2 Beta With Facebook Integration; Chat with Facebook on AIM; Custom Skin Support
Today AOL released it’s newest version of AIM with version 7.2. This time it has integrated Facebook support. Wait a minute, wasn’t Facebook already integrated within Lifestream? Well the only new added feature in this version is that now you can see who is online on Facebook and chat with them.
Release Notes:
- Chat with your Facebook friends.
- Get your updates from Facebook, Twitter, and other social networks.
- Comment, ‘like’ and update your Facebook and Twitter status.
Aim 7.2 Beta with Custom Skin
When chatting with a Facebook friend, you will see the Facebook logo at the bottom of the IM Window. Facebook Friends also show up under their own category within the buddy list, optionally you can show their pictures as buddy icons.
Aim Lifestream
It looks as if your supposed to be able to click the Like button under all the Facebook status updates, however this feature wasn’t working properly at this time. It appears to only work under your own status update and not your friends. You can note that it says “Like” under the status I posted. To view your friend’s status updates, click the “Lifestream” button.
Congratulations! All custom AIM 7.1 skins are supported under Aim 7.2. The instructions will change based on the installation directory.
C:\program files\aim7\services\imApp\ver7_2_3_10
14
Aim 7 Skins: Sonar Series
Aim 7.3 Skins
Four Brand new Aim Themes for Aim 7.2 and Aim 7.3
Each theme is done in a different style.
Aim 7 Theme: Sonar Royal [Preview Settings]
Description: Your Majesty! Your AIM subjects bow in your presence.
Tags: purple skin, 790 x 1024, tiled
Aim 7 Theme: Sonar Sky [Preview IM Window]
Description: Soar to the sky and see the stars!
Tags: blue skin, 790 x 1024, tiled, default.css
Aim 7 Theme: Sonar Red [Sign On Preview]
Description: Electrifying tentacles in pink and red.
Tags: black skin, 790 x 1024, seamless,
Aim 7 Theme: Sonar Orange [Preview IM Window ]
Description: A delicious orange during the summer day.
Tags: orange skin, 790 x 790, tiled, default.css
11
Aim 7.1: Changing Screen Name Colors
Back again after 4 months of translating Japanese to English.
This time we’re going to change screen name colors for Aim 7.1, and it’s going to work without signing off.
AOL loads a certain CSS file each time you re open an IM window.
So feel free to go far beyond this tutorial and customize the colors of AIM as you see fit. This page will get rid of that ugly brown color they use for your screen name.
Before we Start
This tutorial requires a certain skill level. You must be able to do the following on your own.
- Navigate folders in Windows Explorer.
- Understand the process of opening a file in notepad.
- (Vista Only) Changing File Permissions under Administrator.
- Understand the process of copying and pasting text.
If you are unable to do these tasks please do not continue this tutorial.
Unlocking Vista’s Notepad:
- Open Notepad with Administrative privileges by clicking Start, All Programs, Accessories, and then right-click Notepad and select to open as Administrator.
Preparation
Unlike Aim 7 Beta, Aim 7.1 has made the process of editing screen name colors very easy. All it requires is pasting a few html colors within the a CSS file.
The first step is to find the default.css file that controls screen name colors.
This file is located in the folder:
C:\program files\aim7\services\imApp\ver7###\content\im\
Simply copying and pasting the above path will not work in Windows Explorer. You must manually navigate to the folder using My Computer if you have Windows XP or Computer in Windows Vista.
Program Files, Vista users may see Program Files (x86), if you can not locate the AIM 7 folder, try the other Program Files folder.
Ver7### represents your Aim 7 version number which you will instantly see if you navigated to the folder manually.
en-US is the language and region folder.
Screen Name Color
Open Notepad (Vista users must open as Administrator) then drag the file, default.css, into notepad. You are going to look for the line below…
.color_font-header_local, .color_font-header_local_inline
{
color: #864F04;
}
Highlighted in brown in the code above is your screen name’s default color. To change your screen name color, replace it with an html color code of your choosing.
.color_font-header_local, .color_font-header_local_inline
{
color: #b2bf16;
}
I have now changed the color to #b2bf16 to match my new AIM 7 skin. You can of course edit the screen name color of the person you are iming by changing the color on the line below it.
.color_font-header_remote_0, .color_font-header_remote_inline_0
{
color: #e49600;
}
To summarize, .color_font-header_local changes your screen name’s color. Whereas .color_font-header_remote_0 will change the person you IM.
When you are done you must save the file. For your changes to show up, close ALL IM windows, you don’t need to shut down AIM, then re open them. Even though you have completed the tutorial, you can also edit other colors as well.
Screen Name Status Color
If you still have default.css open, look for this line.
.color_font-screenname_status,
.color_font-state_status,
.color_font-timestamp_status
{
color:#5D6E87;
}
Editing that html color will change the color of the status message. Here I changed the color to pink to match the website.
26
Remove Buddy Update from AIM Buddy Info
Another frequently asked question. So we’ll walk you through on how to remove messages from appearing inside your Buddy Update box in the AIM Buddy Info.
Please note that it can take 5 days for buddy updates to disappear from the box.
Buddy updates are controlled through two locations. One is within Aim 6.8 and another is located at its own special website. If you use Aim 6.9 you’ll need to perform both methods. If you don’t use Aim 6.9 you just have to perform the first method.
Method 1: Buddy Updates Website
- Head over to http://buddyupdates.aim.com
- Sign In and Click Setup
On the Right side you will see a heading that says “Sites that you already have.” You need to click delete under everything that is listed there. Remember that it takes 5 days for buddy info updates to disappear.
Once your done the box will no longer appear as long as you do not alter your status message. However there are other programs that alter the status messages.
Method 2: Aim 6.9 Plugins
In Aim 6.9, plugins can trigger your buddy info updates in several different ways:
- If you install Aim 6.9 for the first time.
- If you install a new plugin.
- If a plugin changes status message for you, e.g. AIM Music Link
Aim 6.9 luckily has privacy settings for plugins. Some plugins like AIM Music Link, has its own built in settings that need to be disabled in order for this to work. Follow these steps to ensure status messages are not updated:
- Open Aim 6.9
- Click Edit.
- Click Settings
- Click Privacy
- Uncheck “I have updated my profiles or blogs”
- Uncheck “I have installed a new AIM Plugin”
Method 2b: Aim Music Link Status
- Open Aim 6.9
- Click View > Plugins
- Click Aim Music Link Preferences
- Uncheck Share Music with your Buddies.
- Click OK.
So again, as long as you don’t update your status, your buddy info updates box will disappear after 5 days of the last update message.
If you need further help please comment below with your AIM screen name, or type your “AIM” email address in the mail section of the comment form.
12
When AOL splits, Where do we end up?
The Great Divide
Time Warner plans to split AOL into two factions, an advertisement unit and a dial-up unit. The plan will be to sell off each unit to potential buyers.
Dial-up users do not make up the majority on AOL so giving them away won’t be such a big deal. Plus this means that AOL will finally have no use for India call centers, although they still might work as online tech support.
The advertising unit also known as Platform A, accounts for the whole AOL community, but mainly focuses on Ad.com. Platform A consists of tons of websites and brands all across the internet. Its a very lucrative spot to potential buyers as they will have ad spots in tons of areas including the massive AIM user base.
I am a Dial-up User, Where do I go?
Earthlink has been in talks to take over dial-up subscribers. I believe dial-up users will be switched over to an entirely new Earthlink email address, Their AOL account will automatically be switched over to free and they will be encouraged to use both emails. This is just purely speculation.
I am a Broadband User, Where do I go?
As for the advertisement unit, it looks like we’ll end up joining Microsoft or Yahoo, or hopefully someone else who wants to step up to the plate.
Romance of the Three Kingdoms
The most interesting part of this merger is the drama between each of the major companies. Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft are battling it out to gain the largest footprint over internet advertisement revenue. If AOL merges with Yahoo, Microsoft gets upset. If AOL merges with Microsoft, Google gets upset. Added to this problem includes the recent deal Yahoo and Google are making to share advertisement plans. Microsoft isn’t so happy about that either and wants the decision blocked. I’m hoping neither of these companies buy AOL. As you can see its already a tangled mess. Joining forces with AOL will only complicate matters.
If Microsoft or Yahoo does indeed buy AOL, interoperability will finally be on the table. Whoever buys AOL will now have to integrate all AOL screennames together with the buyer’s IM service. For the first time we may finally have AIM with the ability to add Microsoft and Yahoo subscribers to the buddy list. I know many have have been clamoring for that.
The other great feature is advertisement revenue. Now Yahoo or Microsoft will have an even larger audience to host advertisements, including non-AOL owned websites that Ad.com serves.
The Buzz Around the Internets
There seems to be no agreement as to who should buy AOL. One thought is that If Microsoft buys AOL, it could allow Yahoo to prove themselves to investors that they can run independent of Microsoft. Another speculates that AOL won’t be able to save the Microsoft brand. We may find ourselves watching the same thing happen years from now when Microsoft announces it will try to sell off AOL.
During this battle, users are always the victims. If I were to choose a company that could attempt to save the AOL community to bring them back together, I would choose Yahoo. Yahoo has proven its expertise in this aspect with sites such as Yahoo Groups and Yahoo Answers.
What do you think will happen to AOL?
Post a comment on your ideas and thoughts as to what might happen to AOL. You’ll have to wait until 2009 its announced what plans AOL will be forced to make.
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