Teen Times: 'You're not on Bebo? Oh but you have to join . . . " I wonder how many people have been part of this conversation over the past few months?

I pity those who responded with "So . . . what is it?" Not because I think that they're missing out, but because of the reaction that the Bebo addict will have - I mean, how could one possibly survive without Bebo?

For those of you who have not yet encountered the Bebo phenomenon - fear not. You will survive without it. In fact, avoid it if at all possible. Whatever about the attention that the Irish media has paid to Bebo.com lately, the only harmful element that I have come across is that it is highly addictive. So if you want to save your eyesight, your respective bill payers' sanity and your genuine, not online, social life, I would advise you to stay away.

But there are probably still a few of you asking "Well, what is it?" For you lucky few, I'll explain. There are many online communities on the internet, eg MySpace or Orkut, and Bebo is one that has recently exploded in popularity in Irish secondary schools and colleges.

You fill out a profile about your very interesting self and upload photos; write quizzes about yourself or "blog" an online diary. Then your very interesting friends do the same and you e-mail them to add them as friends so that you can all view each other's profiles, pictures and test how well you know each other on your quizzes. But don't take the results too seriously; they are multiple choice after all.

You can leave comments on friends' profiles or pictures informing them just how wonderful their flashbox video is or how funny those pictures are from that last party. And of course there's the mail feature, where the more friends you have, the more pointless forwards you'll receive.

Anyone other than your friends can only see your profile if you change your settings, and if you fall out with one of your friends you can always block them. And the "other half" feature where a picture of your respective boyfriend or girlfriend can be seen on your profile has a useful "dump" option.

Whatever reasons that schools and colleges across the country give for blocking Bebo, one of the reasons has to be that it's just taking up too many computers and too much of people's time. You can't walk down a hallway in my school without hearing someone say "I added you on Bebo/I did your quiz on Bebo/did you see my comment on Bebo?" etc. It's not only hard to see a screen without it but impossible to get a free computer in the computer room. Well, that was until it was blocked.

Bebo is just another internet phase they're going through, like the interest in MSN or chatrooms before it, but the sooner that this phase is over, the sooner I can breathe a Bebo-free sigh of relief.

Kate Rothwell (17) is in Form 5 at Kilkenny College

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