Squarely in the dazed and confused column, AOL acquired Bebo today.  I find this acquisition to illustrate that a company can exhibit a psychological illness.  AOL is clearly, schizophrenic.

Everyone is trying to get their hands on a social news site like Digg.  AOL has one that is far superior to the Digg technology, Netscape…er…Propeller, and they are, without a doubt, going out of their way to kill it.  Here is a company that does not comprehend the social media landscape.  Frankly I would consider AOL a dying brand, maybe not dead today, but they are certainly fading.  Now they go and get themselves a social network.

Clearly this is a company in need of, well to be blunt, a clue.  I hope that Bebo can survive, but if AOL’s treatment of Netscape is any indication, Bebo will fade into irrelevancy within a year.

On the bright side, it’s nice to see the relevant social network space getting weeded out.