On the countries of beBee

Mark Twain said: “there are lies, damned lies and statistics” which is often the case when it comes to national statistics. Let’s consider figures of the true kind. Wondering about the subscriber base of beBee I viewed the country statistics displayed on the platform. Most of us know that at present there are 11,3 million Bees around the world. Looking further into the numbers - there are many so please bear with me - here are a few observations.

Spanish speaking countries are by far the largest beBee grouping. Including Spain, Mexico, Colombia and Argentina, these countries  account for about 9 million users. Spain alone has the largest total users - 4,5 million. About 10% of Spain’s total population are Bees. What a feat for a platform that has been running for a bit more than a year!

The United States has about 123 000 users where the aim is to have 40 000 new Bees signing on every day by the end of the year. Clearly Javier and Juan and local CEO Matt Sweetwood are pushing hard in this market while there is a sweet spot as LI is bedding down its sale. When Matt and his team reach the accretion rate they are aiming for, beBee should have about 15 million users by end 2017. All success to you Matt.

India Bees total 1 million while China has only 400 subscribers. I was interested to learn that India and China each have more than 100 million people able to speak English. Not that English or any other written language is a must as soon Bees will be able to have visual conversations. Considering China and India with their huge populations and some 1,1 billion (yes billion) internet users between them, these countries are important for longer term growth of beBee.

Canada, the land of super honey producers has a bit more than 1600 bees. The per capita honey production on beBee in English is certainly topped by the Canucks with hardly a day going by without a quality piece penned from up north. When it comes to buzzes and honeys, they are a few doing much for many Bees.

Africa south of the Sahara has a population of 800 million. On average 20% of the people of these countries have internet access. Travelling often across the continent I am always surprised at the high rate of mobile and internet usage in places and for purposes least expected. The Kenyan javelin thrower Julius Yego taught himself by watching YouTube. He won a silver medal at the recent Rio Olympics. Now there are slightly more than 2000 Bees out of Africa but watch the gradual rise of the African Bee.

South Africa, my home country, has 500 registered beBee users. Generally South Africans are slower compared to other countries to take up new social internet applications and if I look at the four million subscribed here to LI, there are many more Bees to come from this country. Half the population has internet access. South Africans are a social bunch and the sociability of beBee will attract many more Bees to the hives.

The numbers carry on and the country statistics above looks at beBee in a categorized way. 

beBee is so much more. In the few months that I have been part of the network, I have made online friends from all over the globe and across all ages and creeds. I learn from everyone. This is the true value of affinity networking – connecting with people on a personal level. Around the globe beBee is emerging as a unifier between people and countries.

To me beBee is the united nations of social and professional media.