Onboarding Chronicles: The Mentor's Perspective

One day, someone reached out to me and asked that we talk about Hive. He said, "I have a friend that tells me a lot about how she is looking to develop her creativity in the art of writing, but she is unsure about the best platform to do that."

And then he continued with, "You came to mind right away as I remembered the articles you shared on your WhatsApp status and about this Hive space that you are so invested in." He wanted me to bring her on to Hive so she could probably do the same thing I was doing—grow as a writer.

Firstly, I was stoked to hear that people had actually been reading my posts and probably liked them. But that wasn't the crux of the matter. Someone was willing to explore their potential, and they needed the right space to do that. "What place is better than Hive to do that?" I thought to myself and then gladly welcomed the soon-to-be Hiver. She had already passed my first assessment.

"Assessment?" You may be wondering. Yes, assessment—because an ugly experience taught me to try to understand the grounds people stand on when they say they want to join Hive and would like me to show them the ropes.

I used to be very enthusiastic about telling people about Hive and inviting them until I realised how much of a crucial responsibility it is—if you are really into it—when something rather absurd happened with someone a long time ago. I have learned to be more discerning with time.

Well, I am still very much an enthusiast about promoting Hive, and I can talk about it anytime and anywhere. It's just that I really have to be sure that it's all going to be a blissful journey rather than not.

A person saw my wallet one time and then came to ask about it and how to get what I had, as little as it was. Of course, most people like good things, and there's no problem with inquiring about "how to." It was what followed the question the person asked me that made me discouraged from even beginning to talk about Hive.

I told the individual that such a place where one can get rewarded for their efforts actually exists, and a major requirement is that you put in the effort and do the work. And when I went further to explain what I meant by that, his response gave me the idea that he actually thought Hive was a get-rich-quick scheme.

So, when the motive of joining Hive is to basically grow one's creative capacity, it tells me that the individual can be here during the good and not-so-good days, sharing value and leaving good impressions. And so it began...

And from there, I explained a number of things. Each time I did, interestingly, this newbie seemed even more fascinated as we progressed. When the time finally came, I created her account.

I am not sure if it's just me, but I think that if I am going to be your onboarder, then we are doing things my way. And that includes receiving in-depth explanations about basic yet important aspects to get started with. Not that I would simply create an account for you and help you with the bare necessities like intro post and account setup without providing the necessary information—like the reasons why newbies plagiarise.

Another component of my onboarding that I started to employ at some point is being an omboarder worth emulating. I think it's important to represent what you're going to teach by leading by example. In a not-so-small way, it really affects newbies.

Something I learned that enlightened me on being a good ambassador for Hive was what I found in a post acidyo explaining how OCD goes about screening newbies. And part of it talks about the influence an onboarder has on the image of a newbie. If you're not doing so great by doing some disagreeable things on Hive, you're likely going to not paint the newbie so well.

Being an onboarder is not just about creating an account and talking about one or two things about Hive, but also about being a beacon that puts Hive in a good light. This is something that I personally like to work with, and I think it goes a long way towards helping newbies. It's something to keep in mind.

I have always wanted to talk about that for a long time now. Inspired by this week's Hive Naija Prompt, I figured that would be that day. What are your thoughts?