04 January 2008

Bebo named as top social networking site

Social networking site Bebo has been named as the top-performing website of its kind in a new report.

Published by magazine Computing Which?, the research involved the independent testing of the ten most popular such sites over a range of categories, including ease of use and set-up, the protection of members' privacy and the range of features they offer.

Both Bebo and Facebook proved particularly successful, achieving scores of 79 per cent and 74 per cent respectively.

Bebo, which is aimed at 13 to 24-year-olds, was praised for encouraging "responsible networking", offering users the opportunity to restrict who sees their information and block unwanted visitors. It also gives people advice on security risks and how to avoid them.

Meanwhile, Facebook was praised for, among other things, having a simple interface.

Commenting on the results, Abigail Waraker, the editor of Computing Which?, stated: "Social networking sites are growing in popularity and, as the success of Bebo in our test shows, sites like MySpace and Facebook can't rest on their laurels if they want to stay in the game.

"It's also encouraging to see that no matter what age you are or what interests you have, there is a social networking site out there for you."

However, in a more cautious note on the subject of social networking sites, security expert Mary Landesman, a senior security researcher at ScanSafe, identified them as particularly at risk from security attacks over the coming year, the BBC has reported.