John White, MBA

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

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The Key Philosophical Differences Between beBee Ambassadors and "Influencers" on Other Social Networks

The Key Philosophical Differences Between beBee Ambassadors and "Influencers" on Other Social Networks

ACR YIN TIY3 AMBASSADOR OR NOT TO BEE
Lately, I've been seeing a lot of discussion about beBee Brand Ambassadors and several have called me into those discussions for feedback. In fact, much of this blog has been taken from my responses in the comments on a viral conversation on beBee in a Producer post by Kevin Pashuk. 

Many very valid questions have been raised in these discussions.

In this post, I'm going to attempt to provide the key philosophical differences between a beBee Ambassador and designated "influencers" on other social media sites.

From beBee's perspective, we realize that there is this sort of a social competition that happens on social media for status and influence just like there is in the business world. We believe that this type of competition is typically critical to having an engaging platform. 

However, at beBee, we want that competition to be as fair and as organic as possible. That is why we are moving away from having the designation of VIP on profiles that were done manually by our staff, and moving to a VIB (Very Important Bee) designation which is generated from user engagement and activity level on the platform. 

We will be the first social platform to actually measure engagement and apply it towards designations within the user base.
 
In regards to ambassadors on beBee, I believe there are some key differences between us and other platforms. Users had to apply and prove themselves on the platform before being given the position, kind of like applying for a job. 
On LinkedIn, for example, nobody can apply to be an Influencer and the criteria for becoming one is very unclear. Basically, what I have observed is that the Influencer designation is now mostly used when celebrities join the platform.

One last thing to point out about beBee Brand Ambassadors versus other "Influencers" on other platforms. I recently got a vanity tag on Twitter and got a verified account. I'm not going to lie, I was pretty happy about that considering the investment I've put in over there. 

However, one thing I noticed right away is that I didn't get much attention from the "cool kids" until I became one. In other words, once I got that little badge on my profile, I started to get more verified accounts interacting and following me. 

Before I became a "cool kid" on Twitter I think there were maybe one or two verified accounts that followed me. Now, I'm pushing 200+ verified accounts that have followed me since, where as, before they didn't give me the time of day. On beBee, our Ambassadors main job is to connect with and promote the other bees on beBee. 

To welcome them to the platform and help them get started. Share user their content into hives and on other social media platforms. I think it's truly a unique approach. 

I can't say I've ever had a LinkedIn Influencer interact on my 160+ posts I've written over there and I rarely see them interact on anyone's posts (even other Influencers). 

The key philosophical difference is that our ambassadors are serving the users, where as, on other sites the users serve the "anointed influencers."

Another difference I'd like to point out is that beBee has laid out its criteria for having a post promoted (20 relevants, 5 comments). The same criteria applies to beBee Ambassadors. In other words, they must hit this minimum organic reach before having their content promoted. 

Where as, on other platforms, there are certain "designated influencers" that get promoted the minute they write something irrespective of the quality of the piece. 

Here we let the readers decide first as to which posts are eligible for promotion. It's a much more democratic way of doing things.

While affinity networking is definitely a work in progress, I believe the framework we have in place is positioning beBee to be by far the most even playing field for content producers and the last place for true organic reach within social media.

Want to learn more about the beBee Ambassador program?

These are the basic steps that our beBee Ambassadors site will ask you to complete before being able to access.

om & @ rosccomea Boost beBee on the Internet Use your social networks, blog or website to tell others EER hi H H 1 Grow the hive | dre) 1 protestonal contacts 1 hy PI {| \ dr Ko Producer a] pea EE nc are Be social Use our social network! Share relevant buzzes, find like-minded [RT RN EY EY Give us your suggestions! ‘What eise do you think you can do as. a beBee ambassador?

How much will the equity be worth for beBee Ambassadors? Find out in this post from beBee co-founder, Juan Imaz. 

https://www.bebee.com/producer/@juan-imaz/how-much-will-the-equity-of-our-bebee-ambassadors-be-worth

SbeBee Ly Be our ambassador! Promote beBee and get equity (o] Boost beBee on the Internet [~] Invite your contacts (/] Write stories on beBee Producer [J


#Key Philosophical Differences #Influencers #Producer #Brand Ambassadors #Social Networks
Comments

Matt Sweetwood

6 years ago #43

At beBee we view ambassadors and staff and even our executives as equals on the platform. We're all here to make this a place that everyone wants to be and is different from the other social platforms - in a better and more inclusive way. Buzz On!

Donald 🐝 Grandy PN

7 years ago #42

Excellent points John White, MBA. Thanks for the clarification. Proud to be an Ambassador.

Ali Anani

7 years ago #41

I echo the comment of Sarah Elkins for this wonderful buzz

Sarah Elkins

7 years ago #40

These are really good points, John White, MBA, thanks for sharing. I especially appreciate the role of Ambassadors in direct contrast to Influencers. Terrific, straightforward descriptions here.

Lisa Gallagher

7 years ago #39

Shared again and Retweeted!

Randy Keho

7 years ago #38

Thanks, Franci, she responded to my personal message a couple of days ago. Rebel Brown?#76

John White, MBA

7 years ago #37

#74
John Marrett, no worries at all if you don't have time to read them all. Believe me I get it I always appreciate your comments and the perspectives you add to the conversation!

Lisa Gallagher

7 years ago #36

Thanks for taking the time to write this John White, MBA working hard in the US to help beBee grow, well I see this as a win/win.. as I said, many great people here, yourself included.

Ali Anani

7 years ago #35

#69
I always believed that money is the reward for doing professionally a job out of the heart. Money is a reward or by-product of devotion and excellence. Focusing on money is not the way. I applaud your comment Javier beBee and I am in full support of beBee

Javier Cámara-Rica 🐝🇪🇸

7 years ago #34

Thanks a lot for your comments. We are willing to have more ambassadors, people who is making beBee better and bigger, but remember that being an ambassador is also an "attitude". Ambassadors dont have any privileges. They will only get money from equity if the company succeeds. Who is sharing equity with the users in their company ?

John White, MBA

7 years ago #33

#66
: John Marrett: If users are wearing the scroll wheel that is a good sign! It means we have a lot of buzzing going on here on beBee! As for the comment system, in a future release beBee will give users a choice between the existing commenting system and one more Facebook-like. We realized that some users like the current system and others prefer a more "traditional" one. So, why not give them a choice?!

Ken Boddie

7 years ago #32

Thanks for some clarification and education in this buzz, John. Your stated objective to have beBee "the most even playing field for content producers" is good enough for me. 👍

Pascal Derrien

7 years ago #31

#58
agree with Dean Owen if all of us could spare beBee from parochial and semantic discourse I think this would also add value, it is OK flagging but labouring the points obsessively will not engage new members to stick and engage :-)

Dean Owen

7 years ago #30

Sorry, I meant John White, but David too makes some excellent points in his comment.

Dean Owen

7 years ago #29

I'll just add one point. The ambassador program is not like an authorised spokesperson system you might find in a bank, where only employees designated authorised spokesperson are permitted to conduct any form of external communication regarding the company. As such, what ambassadors say in public does not have to go through a vetting process for prior approval. So beBee does not control what is said, and ambassadors are free to represent their personal brand. So once in a while an ambassador might say something that does raise a few eyebrows. But rather than publicly lambast them at a risk of turning people off beBee with all the snide comments, why not send them a PM, or even send beBee management a PM with your concerns. If we all care so much about beBee, let's keep it civil. And let's not forget, ambassadorships can be revoked.

Milos Djukic

7 years ago #28

Part II Thank you John White, MBA for this brilliant and highly necessary post. I take this opportunity to point out once again three key differences and comparative advantages: 1. We have a same task to provide among a wider audience a clear awareness about the global transformations that are underway on beBee (on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and other media). 2. Many of us (with or without the title) are on the same mission and fortunately we are not alone (The Butterfly Effect). 3. Currently, beBee is the only social network that operate in accordance with the principles of emergence, interdependence, diversity, modes of interaction, and self-organization, which are typical for complex adaptive systems This is the reason for success and perseverance. And the most important distinctions between beBee and some other social networks. The difference in: 1. “Philosophy” (affinity concept and the future "fractal approach"), 2. Influencer marketing concept, 3. Algorithms (manipulations) and 4. User experience (UX)

Milos Djukic

7 years ago #27

Part I Thank you John White, MBA for this brilliant and highly necessary post. I have recognized, here on beBee something much more important than being cool, not so cool or an Ambassador, and that is people-centric leadership and an announcement, or more precisely, the forerunner of the fractal evolution in social media. This concept, that is still not completely defined, I have presented through the series of critical posts and discussions on beBee about conventional influencer marketing pitfalls and also within the LinkedIn post titled: "The Fractal Revolution in Society, Social Media First". This was a joint “research” of like-minded people, beautiful beBee members (with or without the title), nothing less and nothing more. This is something like evolution and ongoing process, just like this discussion, that is shaped within the affinity concept that was provided by beBee network.

Dean Owen

7 years ago #26

Thanks for laying it out so clearly David Grinberg. I hope that with this article, the daily conversation I have been seeing on the LinkedIn Influencer program will become somewhat sporadic. Important to discuss once in a while, yes, but we see the same conversations every single day and usually from the same people.

don kerr

7 years ago #25

While we're tracking down MIA Bees - where's Alan Geller

don kerr

7 years ago #24

#40
thanks Randy. Will admit I had to self medicate with Beattie's Potato Vodka a couple of times. All in the interest of clarity. John White, MBA all-round good guy got me sorted. Now back to Canada v. Russian in hockey. Beauty eh?

don kerr

7 years ago #23

#39
😜

Phil Friedman

7 years ago #22

#39
John, I won't tell yours, if you don't tell mine. :-)

Randy Keho

7 years ago #21

I have interacted with many of the ambassadors, producers, baseline bees, and guiding lights on beBee. As a result, most of them know I don't really give a rat's ass about being one of the so-called "cool kids." That's not why I'm here. I speak my mind, which often comes across as somewhat twisted, but I gave up taking life too seriously a while ago. This is social media, for Christ's sake. We're not here to fight ISIS. Some of the skirmishes that bees get involved in are laughable. This is a good example. Has anybody else noticed the absence of Rebel Brown and Dr. Margaret Aranda, MD, PhD chose to leave. I've reached out to them, but I've received no response. It appears to me that beBee may need some internal ambassadors. Who's shepherding the flock? The "honored" ambassadors? That's not their assignment. Juan, Javier, and John, are doing the best they can, but their focus needs to be outward. If not, beBee will become nothing more than a social club full of "cool kids" satisfying their thirst for blind followers. That's way more than my two cents, so I'll be expecting a refund. In conclusion, I would encourage you to contribute to the Kickstart fund established by Don Kerr so we can get his book published. I never said I was beyond shameless promotion. Now, go back to arguing. I'm off to the bar. It's Saturday night.

John White, MBA

7 years ago #20

#36
: Phil Friedman: I know you want to see beBee become a success as much as anyone. I always take your comments and suggestions with high regard and deep consideration. However, forgive me for being brief, I'm responding from a social event and can only respond when my wife looks the other way. 😀😆😂 With time the Ambassador program will improve as we continue to define it.

don kerr

7 years ago #19

#35
did not know that. Always seeking to understand!

Phil Friedman

7 years ago #18

#27
P.S., John, I am not saying that anyone should feel threatened, including any Ambassadors by questions concerning the evolution of the program. I am only saying that I -- and I do not pretend to speak for anyone else -- am made uncomfortable by Ambassador statements like, "... I am still in shock that the team bestowed such honor on me ..." and "... I have been chosen as a beBee Brand Ambassador; an honor only recently given to me by the leaders at beBee...". And as a friend and "early adopter" of beBee, I am voicing a caution to be cognizant of the image that may be presented. Jim Murray is right when he says that a lot of people carry baggage with them from their LinkedIn experience, which baggage may condition their responses. However, savvy marketing and public relations, IMHO, takes into account the operating landscape when forming and executing strategy. You have always been a supportive friend to me personally, back to LI days as group owners and managers, as well as independent writers; and I hope that you see me in the same way. I would not speak out if I did not care about beBee's development and success. Cheers!

John White, MBA

7 years ago #17

#26
Don Kerr: I'm glad you said something. We just promoted one of your posts on September 15th. If you go to the beBee FB and LinkedIn page you will find it. We don't have the bandwidth in place to promote every single post that crosses the threshold. However, we thought it was a good idea to put some standards in place. Keep on producing great stuff, my friend.

Phil Friedman

7 years ago #16

#27
For the record, my expressed observations do not have to do with the program. The point is that nothing in the outlines of the program is problematic. But then, when Jeffrey Strickland founded the "Unfluencers (tm)" group on LI (of which both you and I were early members, as I recall), their manifesto was immaculate in terms of high good intentions and high principles, but much less so in practice as some (not all) members sought to use the trademarked group title and logo as a badge that implied some form of special recognition (countervailing that of the LI "Influencer" tage). Some things on social media just insist on taking on a life of their own.

Jim Murray

7 years ago #15

As observed, this post and its comment stream created a certain amount of controversy. But I'm a simple guy, as astonishing as that might sound, and I only see my role as 'ambassador' here the same as I see my role with my clients. That is to come up with ideas to promote beBee to the target audiences they need to reach. I'm pretty sure that's why I was made one in the first place. My stuff reaches people here because I write it all here (mainly because LI's publisher isn't worth a crap any more), but everything I post goes everywhere I can send it from here all the time. I will also be sending everything I post to all the other ambassadors to hopefully do the same. I think the issue that a lot of people have stems from their experience on LinkedIn where there were definitely two classes...the Influencers and the Plebians. I don't consider my role of ambassador indicates a class distinction. I'm pretty sure that the rest of the ambassadors feel the same way. I treat beBee, and have since I got here, as a sort of pro bono client. I'm on the record in a number of my posts confirming the simple logic that the more beBee grows the better it is for everybody. That's all I'm interested in, because that's all there is to be interested in on an social/business media site from a marketing perspective at least.

John White, MBA

7 years ago #14

#23
Thanks for sharing this and making such a thoughtful suggestion.

John White, MBA

7 years ago #13

#6
Phil Friedman: it was my goal of the post to point out some of the differences in hopes to educate people about the program. The beBee Ambassador program is unique and anytime something new is introduced there are those that feel threatened even though there is no reason to.

don kerr

7 years ago #12

#24
I mean that by my count I have ten posts that meet and exceed these criteria and to my knowledge none have been promoted. Understand, I am not all twisted up about this at all. Just want to make sure I understand.

John White, MBA

7 years ago #11

#21
Don Kerr: what do you mean?

David B. Grinberg

7 years ago #10

Thank you John White, MBA for sharing your astute analysis and important insights. You make many excellent points, as usual, to clarify what helps make bebee unique in a noisy and crowded social media space. Most importantly, the actual users (bees) are the REAL "influencers" on beBee, not some Ivory Tower hand-picked celebrity personality or random CEO who is chosen only to curry favor with the self-absorbed and arrogant editorial staff. On beBee, the platform works for the users, while the opposite is true on other social platforms which aggressively promote their self-designated "influencer" content by jamming one's feed with it. In short, beBee caters to the user base while its competitors cater to themselves with a narrow-minded focus on maximizing paid services at the expense of a satisfying user experience. In short, some other competitor social platforms -- we won't mention names -- display what I consider to be a shameful reckless indifference to the overall experience of the user base -- which only stifles engagement, decreases the number of active monthly users, and lowers the average user time on the site. One would think these so-called "editors" would "get it" by now. However, some of them appear more concerned with trying to be pseudo social celebrities by promoting only themselves and their cherry picked "influencers." On beBee, the actual user is king or queen. But on some other sites, the user is treated as a mere pawn for advertisers and pervasive pitches for upgraded paid services which are arguably unnecessary (expect to boost profits for shareholders). In essence, beBee is a breath of fresh air in the social media space, whereas other mega monolithic social platforms shamelessly and purposely trample user engagement and suffocate organic reach -- which is anathema to a positive user experience. Shame on them! Enough said.

don kerr

7 years ago #9

"Another difference I'd like to point out is that beBee has laid out its criteria for having a post promoted (20 relevants, 5 comments). The same criteria applies to beBee Ambassadors. In other words, they must hit this minimum organic reach before having their content promoted." Really? Certainly not my experience.

John White, MBA

7 years ago #8

#2
Robert Bacal: thanks for saying so. You are right about the demands of investors to monetize the platform.

Phil Friedman

7 years ago #7

CC: Jim Murray.

Mamen 🐝 Delgado

7 years ago #6

Clear as clear water John White, MBA!! 👏 Sharing in the outside space... 😉

John White, MBA

7 years ago #5

#5
Chas Wyatt: Let me know if I can help in any way towards those loftier goals. And I hope it wasn't my post that persuaded you against becoming an Ambassador. Regardless, we appreciate your support in any and all capacities, official or unofficial!

Phil Friedman

7 years ago #4

@ John White, MBA - OMG, John. "Philosphocial" Really? What a mashed up word. Portmanteau has nothing on you. How about "Social-philosophical"? At least, it doesn't make one gag. Seriously, though, I personally would not take exception to pretty much anything that you said here. beBee Brand Ambassadors have been chosen according to certain criteria, and because, in your words, "they have proven themselves" as one would for a job. And because they are being promised an eventual equity share in beBee's commercial success (however, that may bee defined), they do in fact become employess of beBee -- or more accutately, paid endorsers or marketing contractors. But what you have not done here is addressed my expressed observation -- even just to tell me it does not track with yours or anyone else's -- that a large percentage, if not the majority of beBee Brand Ambassadors are spending their online efforts in on-platform perf Cont. pt IIunctory greeting of a few (repeat few) newly arriving users and in promoting each other on beBee, rather than promoting beBee on other platforms such as LinkedIn, Medium, Facebook, Twitter, etc. Cont... pt II

Phil Friedman

7 years ago #3

@Jphn White - pt. II And if I am correct in my observation, then despite your and beBee's good intentions as outlined above, the de facto situation is that we're seeing the evolution of an, albeit self-creating and self-designating "influencer" clique. Which would not in other circumstances be anything other than the natural evolution of social competition on the platform. Except for one key difference -- namely, the official beBee imprimatur. You may disagree, but I can tell you that I am hearing from competent, sensible people on, for example, LinkedIn, asking me about, and indicating discomfort with the function of the beBee Brand Ambassador. Indeed, was noticed an LI notice the other day, with a link to on off-platform site, which questioned the nature and value of influencer marketing. And I saw three separate statements from beBee Brand Ambassadors defending beBee -- but without the writers identifying themselves as paid contractors from beBee, which as we have established above, they are. Just askin' ... because, and only because you're sayin'. Cheers!

Ali Anani

7 years ago #2

Bravo John White, MBA

John White, MBA

7 years ago #1

CC: Juan Imaz

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