Yesterday, we reported on AOL’s plans to sell Bebo. The company’s financial loss from selling the increasingly unpopular teen social network has sparked great debate amongst the press. James Moore of The Independent has put forwards some interesting comment about how Facebook should take heed from Bebo’s tale…

“What has happened at Bebo should still worry Facebook. To make its founders fabulously rich in cash terms (as well as in paper), the big dog in the world of social networking appears to be pursuing the route of an initial public offering. So there shouldn’t be much chance of a old, slow moving, dinosaur of a new owner mucking up what has made it good as has happened to so many of its rivals (Friends Reunited, even MySpace).

Facebook, however, could just as easily go down the Bebo route on its own. The site might look like it has traction as one of the dominant forces on the web. It has even surpassed Google in the number of hits (depending on how you chose to categorise such things). Momentum, liquidity and the number one position matter a lot on the web.

But they can still be lost in the blink of an eye, especially if your service is provided for free and you consumers decide that they don’t like you anymore. Recently, Facebook has shown that it is anything but immune from own-goals. The holy grail of social networking is to monetise the vast amount of data you hold on your customers. Trouble is, that creates any number of privacy implications and Facebook has not always shown the most sure-footed handling of this very important issue.

It is a major power for now, but if it loses sufficient goodwill there is nothing to stop it from following Bebo down the road to nowhere. As unthinkable as it appears now, Criterion Capital Partners s – or something like it – could easily be picking over another corpse if Facebook fails to learn the right lessons from Bebo’s blow up.”

Access the full article online at: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/comment/james-moore-bebos-blowup-offers-lessons-that-facebook-must-pay-heed-to-2003533.html