Bebo Collaborates With Support Groups To Extend Online Wellbeing Platform
AUCKLAND, March 5 /Medianet International-AsiaNet/ --
* Bebo’s ‘Be Well’ platform launches in Australia and New Zealand to provide a mechanism for support organisations to
deliver easily-accessible services to the Bebo community * Launch partners include ReachOut!, Kids Help Line, CanTeen,
ACON, LifeLine New Zealand and Skylight.
Bebo today announced that it is extending the reach of its online platform, Be Well, which provides its community with a
central source of information, support and advice on issues relating to mental health, social care and wellbeing.
Bebo is the first social media network to create an online resource area of this kind with Be Well having already proved
a success in the UK and Ireland following its launch in December 2007. Be Well is now being extended to include partner
organisations in Australia and New Zealand and aims to provide its community with access to independent, expert advice
from support organisations on a broad range of issues.
Be Well is accessed via http://www.bebo.com/bewell
Dr Rachel O’Connell, chief safety officer, Bebo said: “We recognise that our community socialises online and appreciates
easy access to support services from within Bebo which may not be as readily accessible in the real world. The Be Well
approach is a natural progression to best support a community that spends more time online than ever before.”
Bebo is working in partnership with 12 member organisations to use Be Well to provide specialist advice and support on
their areas of expertise to the Bebo communities in Australia and New Zealand. At launch, the organisations
participating in Be Well in Australia and New Zealand include: ReachOut!, Kids Help Line, CanTeen, ACON, Bobby Goldsmith
Foundation, LifeLine New Zealand and Skylight.
Bebo is actively seeking to extend the number of partnerships to make Be Well as comprehensive as possible for the
community it serves.
Be Well is accessible to users via a thumbnail on the main Bebo homepage, ensuring that awareness of the initiative is
made prominent across the network’s community.
Jonathan Nicholas, Director of Programs at Inspire Foundation (www.inspire.org.au), said: "Through our programs such as
Reach Out! and Actnow Inspire is committed to using the internet to improve young people’s mental health and wellbeing.
To achieve our goals it is critical that we engage young people through online communities like Bebo. The Be Well
platform enables us to easily integrate our services in the Bebo community and enables young people to access our
content in a trusted environment.”
Dr. Rachel O'Connell, chief safety officer, Bebo, concludes: "People can really benefit from expert advice at certain
points in their lives. Be Well aims to ensure that these services are easily accessible to the Bebo community. We're
encouraged by the positive response from both the Bebo community and support providers to this initiative."
Dr O’Connell travelled to Australia on the 4th March for the ActNow Community Engagement seminars and will extend her
visit to include New Zealand where Bebo remains the leading social network.
About Bebo Bebo is the world's leading global social media network. Building on the notion of traditional social
networking websites, Bebo combines community, self-expression and entertainment to enable its users to consume, create,
discover and share professional and user-generated content through the Bebo website. Bebo has more than 40 million
members worldwide. Bebo is the #1 social network in New Zealand and also ranks as Australia's most engaging social
network with users spending longer on Bebo per usage day than any other social networking site. *
Bebo was founded in 2005 by Michael and Xochi Birch.
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