AOL plans to sell or shut down Bebo
This announcement immediately made me think about 3 things which relate to 360-2020 and its potential business model(s):
(1.) How critical it is for social networks to have a PURPOSE to underpin the other fun updating features they offer. Facebook and Twitter rose to prominence because they were either credited for helping in the Democratic election campaign or cited for raising real-time awareness about issues, brands and characters.
The opportunity here about the incorporation of PURPOSE possibly resides in the way MMORGs manage to sustain online users’ interest. There are usually sets of objective (or mission) in the game which requires multiple participants to contribute their knowhow and play strategy.
(2.) How important it is to get the monetization strategy right from the outset so that a platform is self-sustainable and not be dependent on either a parent company or investor group, who can pull the plug on users’ content.
The option here about MONETIZATION possibly resides in turning current “pay to play” models on their heads and asking, “How much would companies PAY TO BE PRIVY TO PEOPLE’S PERCEPTIONS AND POTENTIAL PARTICIPATION IN PRODUCT DESIGN?”
(3.) How there seem to be cultural differences between the small-knit, innovative start up and the globally spread, sometimes red-taped corporate which results in integration issues.
The solution here is simple: make sure the management team has big company and small dotcom experience and can navigate between the two cultures.
When readers click on the image of Bebo’s UI below, they’ll be directed to a PaidContent article with more details about AOL’s planned strategic exit of Bebo:
