Bebo website is 'down, not dead'

AOL bought Bebo for £540m in 2008

The co-founder of Bebo has denied claims the social networking site has shut down.

Michael Birch, who launched the one time Facebook and Myspace rival with his wife in 2005, sparked confusion on Twitter last night.

"Am super sad that Bebo has actually gone. Some very fun times with very cool people. #RIPbebo - keep sharing that luv!"

But it wasn't long before he tweeted again, creating the mix up.

"Hold the press (too late for that). Bebo should be coming back in a matter of hours. #LongLiveBebo".

Sold for £540m

According to reports Bebo has been taken offline because of technical problems.

Adding to the confusion was a lack of information from either of the site's official Twitter feeds.

There's been no comment on either TeamBebo or Official_Bebo for weeks.

Users have been using Facebook and Twitter to talk about their memories of the site.

Ian Morrow used Newsbeat's Facebook page to write: "please do something on Bebo shutting down without warning."

"Have lost thousands of good memories," he added.

But Steph Yule tweeted: "Why's everyone greetin about Bebo? No ones used it in years!"

Founded in 2005 at one point Bebo was as popular as Facebook and Myspace with tens of millions of users.

But since it was bought by AOL in 2008 for £540 million the site rapidly lost users and value.

AOL sold it just two years later to private equity firm Criterion Capital Partners for a fraction of the price paid for it, reportedly just £6.3million.

Follow our technology reporter Dan Whitworth on Twitter