Bebo, the global social media network that was acquired by AOL, recently took a major step towards opening up their social network to the mobile world.

Bebo Open Mobile is a partnership program for operators, handset manufacturers and mobile software developers which will help them promote, distribute, and monetize mobile social media.

Bebo is a popular social media network, with a total membership of more than 50 million** registered users worldwide. Bebo’s global users spend an average of 25 minutes* a day on the site.

Since inception, Bebo has been one of the more innovative social network companies. For example they pioneered the idea of a social network as a media distribution channel by co-producing the well known series “KateModern“, “Sofia’s Diary” and “The Gap Year” which mixed original content plus social networking interactivity.

Bebo Open Mobile is an effort to group the company’s mobile services into a single integrated program for mobile industry partners. Specifically, Bebo announced a number of tools in the areas of mobile Internet, mobile messaging and software development:

• Bebo Open Mobile Internet: Bebo delivers partners the ability to deploy features on the Bebo mobile site including customized navigation, mobile advertising support and enhanced statistics.
• Bebo Open Mobile Messaging: The Mobile Messaging toolkit provides two-way messaging directly to Bebo Open Mobile partners through the messaging interfaces most used by Bebo members.
• Bebo Open Mobile Development API: Bebo also introduces a Mobile Development API toolkit to empower Bebo Open Mobile partners to create innovative applications, widgets and other interfaces to directly serve the Bebo community.

Sean Kane, Global Head of Mobile, Bebo, says: “The Bebo Open Mobile suite of tools is designed to move mobile communication and user relationships forward by delivering a simple and more ubiquitous experience to users. A rapid and global shift towards mobile social networking consumption is in progress and Bebo is committed to leading the way.”

Read the full press release.

Source for metrics: *comScore Media Metrix, December 2008, **internal Bebo data.