AOL have bought Bebo even managing to repel the apparent attempts by Google to get a piece of the action to bolster Orkut.

After my post a couple of days ago about AOL trying to update their brand maybe I was a little premature saying they weren’t causing much of a buzz online. Buying one of the big 3 social media sites is not to be underestimated. However some people are already suggesting that maybe AOL getting involved at this stage in the game might mean that the social media bubble is about to burst.

I can’t see this by any sense of the word. Social media is just being to mature in some areas. Back in February of this year the decline of Facebook users was widely reported as negative. I personally saw this as just a change in user habits. You always get the initial excitement about the latest trend and Facebook was no exception. However the casual user of Facebook could quite happy drop off the network once they get bored that their list of friends are have grown tired of the aimless wall-posts.

The real social users have Facebook as a tool to extend their social lives. I myself don’t logon half as much as I used to - my status can stay the same for days on end. However when I’m planning to meet up or have an event on the cards Facebook is my communication tool of choice. Maybe this is because many of my friends are scattered across the UK rather than being local but all the same it works well for me.

Of course there is the inevitable photos and videos uploaded after the event and for someone who has never been one for collecting photo albums (my entire University life was contained in two rolls of film) I’ve now got far more to look back at - surely not a bad thing?…then again.

So I’m sure the user trends show even more seasonal use of Facebook over time. December was very busy, January very quiet - much like everyone social calendar. Coincidence? Not called social media for nothing. Just time has led to an amplification of this trend.

I don’t think the social media sites are blind to this change in activity either. Facebook are on the verge of a major facelift in the near future. From the screen shots I’ve seen they are trying to make the interface work for all the different types of users that frequent the site - keep those bloody applications separate please!

So no the bubble ain’t for bursting. The question is will AOL make a good go of Bebo or will Bebo go the way of AOLs other online shopping trips?

What does AOL mean to me? AOHell, dial up Internet connections, 1000’s of installation CD’s on supermarket checkouts and dropped through my front door to be immediately binned, hours of trying to remove AOL software from a new PC just because they couldn’t write uninstallation routines that worked.

So although a household name I would hardly say a good reputation especially within digerati circles. Well at last it seems that AOL have finally got the picture and are trying to push new alternate brands online although as the post says they don’t really seem to be causing too much of a buzz online. Must try harder and for got sake test the uninstallation program you distribute work properly.

Another update on the search engine wars! It seems Yahoo! is trying to jump into bed with Google to avoid the smothering embrace of Microsoft.

However with their joint market share amounting to about 90% there is no way this is going to be allowed by the powers that be and I believe not in the interest of the market as a whole. There is an excellent article on the BBC that goes into all the detail you’d need about this and I agree with every point.

Now there are rumblings that AOL might be interested in teaming up with Yahoo! and even Rupert Murdoch might team up with Microsoft for the bid for Yahoo!

Personally I think AOL and Yahoo! isn’t going to change a thing there certainly isn’t any chance of eating into Google’s share.

Yahoo! are obviously terrified to be swallowed up by Microsoft (I’m sure it would cease to exist) but I can see this as the only option if we’re not going to have a single company with a monopoly on the market. I’m not even sure if it’s too late now. Whatever Google’s reputation this isn’t good for the market and stifles innovation.