Are the beBee waters getting choppy? Time to launch a rescue vessel?

By my count, in the last couple of weeks, there have been a tonne of postings about bullies, trolls, meanies, trumped-up b.s. artists, love bugs, pseudo-intellectual brats, alcoholics, geezers, burnt out former dopers, ersatz writers, and cynical bastards intent only on driving the innocent from the garden of beBee.

Perhaps, since I was adorned with the beBee Ambassador ribbon (for which I am grateful and pleased and proud and enthused), my sensitivity has risen.

But, I don't think so. Because at the same time I have read some wonderful posts and comments. I have enjoyed intellectual stimulation and earnest provocation. I have laughed so hard water came out of my nose. (If memory serves it was @Randy Keho who made that happen.) I have seen a Raging Introvert do a live buzz from the shores of Lake Ontario. I have witnessed emotional vulnerability and genuine compassion. It was my great honour to be supported in a Kickstarter campaign by Bees from America, Canada, Holland, South Africa, Israel, and Spain. 

So, then I thought I should do another sort of reality check because I had also come across some controversy about whether the numbers beBee was claiming to pull for writers were reflected in reality. I am so not gonna wade into the relative qualitative and quantitative value of view v. likes v. relevants v. shares v. comments. There's a whole lotta folks on beBee who can do that way better than I can and some day they may even publish something that is meaningful! (That last bit of cynicism was just for you @Aurorasa Sima!)

Anyway, based upon my experience alone here's what I learned:

I first posted to Producer on April 6, 2016. Since that time I have posted 39 times. Nowhere near as prolific as many Bees but who cares. That replicates, sort of, what I would previously have done on LinkedIn - except I joined LinkedIn YEARS ago!

I digress.

Those 39 postings on beBee generated 60,300 views or an average of 1,546 views/post. Now, this pales compares to Alan Geller cranking out 50,000 views for one post but for this old fart that was a pleasing and surprising result. 

The postings received 681 relevants for an average of 17.5/post. Again, I suspect this may not hold up against many other Bees but remember - I, at this point, am interested only in what I experienced.

Now, whether or not these numbers in the great world of social media are good, bad or indifferent - the kick the shit out of anything I ever came close to on LinkedIn.

And, while I can't track comments, I will tell you this: the commentary threads and their quality have far surpassed those I ever enjoyed on LI.

AND, so far, no one here has told me to commit an impossible physical act upon myself which did happen on LI!

In summary, beBee works for me.

I view it kind of like the small town in which I grew up.  There were some wonderful people and some real arseholes. There were people you loved to talk to, some you tolerated politely, and others you crossed the street to avoid. Some you just didn't get at all and consider them to be either mentally damaged or just too spaced out to engage on this plane.

My efforts to promote beBee will continue and despite concerns about the tone of some of our discourse, I would rather risk slight offense for banal indifference.

Let the waves come on. Let the rescue vessel stand ready but firmly moored.

Let's rock the beBee.