don kerr

7 years ago · 2 min. reading time · ~10 ·

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I am curious red. Where are the Canadians?

I am curious red. Where are the Canadians?

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“Use statistics as a drunken man uses lamp posts, for support rather than illumination.”
Andrew Lang

If you’re expecting a thorough and incisive exploration of quantitative data mixed with qualitative projections all built upon a foundation of exhaustive exploration of empirical evidence and statistics - STOP.

Move on. There's nothing to see here folks. 

This is more an expression of curiosity and perhaps the launch of a very polite campaign to paint beBee a touch more red.

As well all know, beBee has experienced encouraging growth in North America. According to the most recent information I could glom onto, in just a few months membership has grown to almost 150,000 Bees from the U.S. Clearly @John White has been doing something more than relaxing on the back porch in Colorado.

At the same time, membership in Canada totals about 1,900.

Brace yourselves. Here comes my foray into statistical analysis. By my reckoning, beBee has achieved a penetration rate of .046% in the USA. The corresponding number in Canada is .005%.

According to statista.com active social network penetration as of January 2016 in the U.S.A. is 59% while in Canada the number is 58%. I think even the statisticians could say we could call that a tie. (BTW: South Korea leads the pack on this front at 78% and according to what I can see there isn’t a single Bee nesting in SK. Maybe that’s where the real growth opportunity lies?)

But back to Canada - land of wired-in lumberjacks, hard-wired igloos, and hot-spot dogsleds.

Clearly, the membership numbers on beBee are predominantly created by European penetration and Spanish/Portugese-speaking communities. Spain ranks #1 and Brazil #2.

Tres hurras enardecedor para España.

Três mobilizador vivas para o Brasil.

All of that is swell and from the perspective that a rising tide floats all boats, who cares where membership comes from?

I do.

It may be just my parochial perspective perched up here above the 49th parallel, but there seems to be a disproportionate number of quality contributors, ambassadors, and mega-active Bees up here. I don’t mean disproportionate in the sense of inappropriate. I mean it in the sense of - WHY?

OK. Our country is well known for the exportation of lots of famous talents: Lorne Michaels, Jane Jacobs, Frank Gehry, Leonard Cohen, Seth Rogen, Rachel McAdams, Joni MItchell, Ryan Gosling, Norma Shearer, Donald & Kiefer Sutherland, Neil Young, Morley Safer, Elizabeth Arden, Paul Anka, Margaret Atwood, Elizabeth Stern, Walter Huston, Peter Jennings, Art Linkletter, Jim Murray, Errol Flynn, and Alice Munro.

Notice, that list doesn’t contain a single hockey player!

What about stuff that was invented here that no one knows about? Stuff such as:

peanut butter; the Wonderbra; Trivial Pursuit, the odometer; the rotary snowplow (OK, that’s probably not a big surprise!); the egg carton; the walkie-talkie; the foghorn (Phil Friedman); and insulin.

We’re good. OK?

We’re inventive, eh?

We’re so goddamn polite it hurts and if that offends you then I am sorry. We’re really good at that too.

Anyway, what we’re apparently not so good at is getting membership up in Canada. Granted, it’s hard to get anything up as winter approaches here in Canuckistan but here’s an appeal:

Fellow Canadians - there’s about 1,900 of us buzzing about here. If each of us just got two more to come to the hive we’d get Canadian representation up to 5,700. That’d be up to .015% penetration. Woo hoo!

Ah hell, let’s just see what we can do.

I’d love to see beBee coloured with just a tad more of Maple Leaf red.

© Copyright 2016, Don Kerr, Don Kerr Writes - All rights reserved.

don@donkerrwrites.com

https://donkerrwrites.squarespace.com

https://ridingshotgun.squarespace.com


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Comments

Donald 🐝 Grandy PN

7 years ago #12

Great post Don Kerr. As you are aware we Canucks are home to the busiest highway in the world i.e. 401. According to stats, 1m vehicles per day. Apparently a very annal Canadian sat on the side of the 401and counted until the puck dropped at the Air Canada Centre or he had to go to the bathroom and didn't want to urinate on the 401. Polite eh? Maybe we can include a beBee sign up as part of the 407 toll? Then they can find like minded beBees who hate the toll? In the meantime, I will do my part to introduce beBee to SWO. Proud Canadian on board the beBee train from London, Ontario.
What a great post, Don Kerr! And I never read anything about statistical analysis or rocket science because those are way beyond me. But because you wrote it, I thought it would be worth it. It was. I laughed all the way through! I am surprised to learn of all the people and things that came out of Canada; you opened my eyes on those! And with winter coming, what better time for your fellow Canuckians (???) to turn to the pleasures of being warm inside and making a few more social media noises?

David B. Grinberg

7 years ago #10

I concur with you Don that beBee is fortunate to have so many talented Canadians on this budding social platform. In fact, Canadian talent might be over represented based on a statistical analysis based on proportionality of the respective populations. Therefore, I think it should be expected that beBee will have more total users in the USA compared to Canada based on sheer numbers alone. To wit: the U.S. population is about 325 million compared to about 36 million for our northern neighbor. Thus, your savvy statistical analysis helps put the pending North American swarm into greater perspective. Thanks for the good buzz!

Mohammed Abdul Jawad

7 years ago #9

Don Kerr So, Canucks make a great writing community on beBee, and like mentors and lampposts they keep cheering the atmosphere of beBee. Isn't that great? Yea...here's the reason to celebrate the spirit of buzzing high!

Phil Friedman

7 years ago #8

Don Kerr, nice piece, indeed. I suggest that the number of Canadian writers on beBee is disproportionately high, while the number of Canadian users is, as you've pointed out, disproportionately low. Why? My bet is that the disparity is due to the fact the Canadian writer's community is historically very strong, and that Canadian writers grow and evolve in an environment that values freedom of expression and open exchange very highly. (Anyone who doubts that should watch a couple of installments of "Today in the House of Commons" or some such news program.) And that Canadian writers have found beBee to be a congenial platform for their activities. But that Canadian readers don't find the bulk of what's on the general feed inviting, precisely because it is too emotional and soft, and lacks the edgy humor and verbal give and take that Canadians genuinely love. This is obviously IMO, based on my 15 years living and working in Canada. And I stand to be corrected by you, Jim Murray, Kevin Pashuk, Paul "Pablo" Croubalian, Nicole Chardenet, Graham Edwards, Renée Cormier, or other Canadians on beBee. Cheers!

Phil Friedman

7 years ago #7

Don Kerr, working on your numbers, if market penetration for beBee were at the same level as in the U.S., the Canadian membership number should be about 15,000, not 1,900 -- if market penetration were at the same level in both countries. It would be interesting to compare the number of active Canadian writers on beBee to the number of active U.S. writers on beBee. I suspect, but cannot say for sure, that Canadian represent a disproportionately high percentage of active writers on beBee -- at least as compared to the respective membership numbers for the U.S. and Canada. Why? My bet is that it's due to the fact the Canadian writer's community is historically very strong, and that Canadian writers grow in an environment that values freedom of expression and open exchange very highly. (Anyone who doubts that should watch a couple of installments of "Today in the House of Commons" or some such news program.) And that Canadian writers have found beBee to be a congenial platform for their activities. But that Canadian readers don't find the bulk of what's on the general feed inviting, precisely because it is too emotional and soft, and lacks the edgy humor and verbal give and take that Canadians genuinely love. IMO, based on my 15 years living and working in Canada. Cheers!

Robert Cormack

7 years ago #6

As you're proven here, Don, where aren't the Canadians?

don kerr

7 years ago #5

#4
Thanks Kevin.

Kevin Pashuk

7 years ago #4

Shared on LinkedIn and beBee Don Kerr...

don kerr

7 years ago #3

John White, MBA thought I tagged you too Sr. Blanco!

don kerr

7 years ago #2

Canucks: Paul \

don kerr

7 years ago #1

Jim Murray You're tagged in this piece.

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