http://www.bebo.com/SafetyTips.jspBEBO
You have probably heard of Myspace or Bebo, and you have probably
heard negative feedback about them. But I am going to try and explain what Bebo actually is and how much fun it is! And also safety precautions about it can be safe.
Bebo say..." Bebo is the next generation social networking site where members can stay in touch with their College friends, connect with friends, share photos, discover new interests and just hang out. From previous experience, the people who work at Bebo have learned a lot about what makes social networks fun, and believe that with Bebo they''''ve taken social networking to the next level."
Bebo is a social network, you create a username, and then a profile page which consists of you listing your favourite music, films, and anything about yourself you would like.You can display your age, or choose to keep it hidden. Then on your profile page, you can create opinion polls, quizzes, mp3 playlists, and write blogs. You also select a ''''flash box'''' which can be a music video, clip rom a film or slideshow. You can also upload photos from your files, or (and this is preventable) copy them from a friends bebo. Since the original friend network set up, it has become a lot more advanced. With things like bebo pages for up and coming bands, artists have bebos and there are writing and blogging competitions. You can choose to make your profile public or private..
Private- This means that to add friends profiles as your networking friends, you send them emails using a bebo/hotmail connection. They will recieve the email and then either confirm they know you or decline your invitation. Then you will show up on their friends list and vice versa. This then means you can view their profile and take part on blogs, polls, quizzes and leave comments, and they can do the same on your profile. If your homepage is private it means that if somebody who you havent confirmed as a friend clicks on your friend tab on someone elses friend list, then they can''''t access your profile.
Public- This means that anyone can view your profile, either by going to your url, which works the same as a website e.g yourname.bebo.com, or just clicking on your tab on someone elses friend list. This means that your friends, and anyone else can take part in anything on your bebo page, look at your photos and leave you comments etc.. If your bebo is public, then somebody can view your page and click add as a friend, which will send you an email request. Whereas private pages can only have friends that have been secured by email invitations.
I use Bebo, most of my friends have profiles, and I enjoy leaving comments and receiving them. It is a way of communicating that is free, a bit like msn. There are lots of fun things to do on Bebo such as drawing a picture on a friends ''''whiteboard'''', looking on bands'''' bebos, and commenting on your friends bebos. My Bebo is private as I feel this is safer, and my photos arent copyable. This means that my Bebo is purely for me and my friends, me and my friends, unlike some Bebo users, arent looking to make more friends we are just wanting to communicate with each other and have fun! I enjoy Bebo and recommend it, but advise to be safe and careful with it as it is obvious that it could be abused by many.
If you do have a Bebo account or are looking to join, then please remember safety and security precautions...such as making your profile provate and hiding your age and also dont add any details of where you live...Check out more tips on the bebo safety tips page, or blogsafety website, and Bebo is now working in collaboration with CEOP, the ''Child Exploitation and Online Protection'' centre. Any worries of people on Bebo is reported straight to the Police.