The social networking site Bebo took a huge blow today, as Reuters reported that AOL wants to either sell or shut down the site. AOL acquired Bebo in March 2008 for $850m.
Bebo sent out a staff memo which said, "Bebo, unfortunately, is a business that has been declining and, as a result, would require significant investment in order to compete in the competitive social networking space".
Social networking is a tough market these days with the dominance of Facebook and Myspace, which both have the backing of large companies such as Microsoft and News Corp.
Bebo is quite popular in Ireland, New Zealand and the UK, however it failed to make any real impact in the United States. It"s hard to predict whether a larger organisation will acquire Bebo, as it may seem to tough of a challenge to take up.