Good afternoon, buzzers! Well, I recently took a vacation, had some time away from pretty much everything Crypto, met some awesome people in RL and well, it got me thinking.
Why do we even bother using Crypto/Hive?
Of course, in the last week, we've seen a major Crypto crash. Not all that uncommon in crypto, to be honest. But it also raised a lot more questions about how we crypto. I mean, what is the point of Crypto and, more specifically, Hive? Should we spend our time? I know in my case it's been hundreds of hours working on/with Hive and other chains. In fact, technically, at this point, years of my life have been devoted to building in crypto, with varying success.
I saw a post the other day about the LTC founder having doubts about whether creating LTC was the correct move. LTC was made to speed up transactions and be an alternative to BTC. BTC has a function, a purpose, and a strategy that could actually have a real purpose in the real world. But what about the majority of other chains or 'Alt' coins? Yes, some give a little more flexibility in what can be built on them, but in the end. What is the real point?
Why do we Hive?
What is the Unique selling point? Is it really worth putting time into Hive, or should we 'take profits' where we can get them in crypto and not 'waste time' on a blockchain that may or may not improve?
Now, I'm not here to FUD Hive or any crypto. At the end of the day, I've spent years creating my persona and building what I can, where I can. Recently, I've been really trying to think if it's worth the time/effort to continue, though. I'm sure we've all got a horror story or two from our time in Crypto, so that's not the focus.
I really want to know what Hiveians think about Hive. Is there real potential? If so, for what?
Is Money the primary goal of Hive? Blog to Earn? Let's be honest, most won't earn much, if anything. Heck, all I've done with Hive is put money in. Yes, I only hold a small bag (approaching 10K Hive and over 500 HBD) but Hive seems to be on a downward spiral, as most of crypto has been over the last week.
So, if money isn't the USP of Hive, what is? Technology?
Are we really doing anything 'better' than other chains? Is Hive blockchain truly Decentralised? Does it have the potential to grow truly? How do we attract developers and support our current developers to grow Hive as a whole?
Hive isn't a company, we don't have managers or owners controlling the development, it's reliant on '3rd party' devs coming here and building. Most likely, they will never receive the support they need to grow and scale effectively on the chain. They have issues with building on the chain, developing a community, or battling other expectations about what they should and shouldn't be doing.
Heck, I've seen more projects receive negative feedback from some Hive power users than support. The majority of developers come to Hive with an open mind, looking to use the technology, but face more opposition (or simply a lack of support) there. Many then walk away, leaving behind projects which 'could' have helped Hive really grow. A lot of this pressure comes from 'big' wallets here on Hive, they have the Hive power, and therefore the power to 'control' development and progress for a lot of users.
Even things like Hive's decentralised Fund have attracted significant abuse and controversy. I think the initial thought behind it was great, but it's been somewhat abused by different entities. I'm not here to point fingers or make assumptions. I've read anecdotal stories and heard from disgruntled users, but at the end of the day, I haven't done enough research to reach a conclusion one way or the other.
Back to my main point of this post...
Is there a real USP of Hive?
If so, what is it?
If it's not the technology or the money, then what is it? I think most people coming to Hive for either of those are let down. We're not all builders or investors, so we can't really improve those aspects.
Which leaves me with one other option, and I think this is the one that sticks with most of the hivians who are still here...
Community/Social.
Hive has the potential to be a community Hub. Bringing web2 to a web3 space. We have all the base applications for true web3 adoption. But, we're a long way off being 'good enough' for 'normies' to get into web3. Why would a regular user stop using Twitter/YouTube/Facebook to come to Hive?
Do we sell ourselves as a 'free speech' platform? Can we really say people can talk freely without censorship?
Most Hive content is contained within the hive bubble; we don't reach out beyond Hive. To really get our message out, we'd need to use those other platforms and link them back to Hive. The majority of us don't have any real sway or influence outside Hive (heck, I don't even have any inside Hive!). So how do we make the social aspects of Hive known to others? Can we really 'sell' Hive as a platform to 'normies'?
I'm looking for opinions and feedback...
I've had another idea (I know, I have lots of those! But the sloth seems to take over and steal those away more often than not. I met someone on vacation who gave me a little boost, more ENERGY! I keep telling myself I 'need to do it', easier said than done!)
So, my idea...
Building a Hive 'company' of sorts. Not a community or website, but a true Hive network for people. Not a 'Hive owner' but somewhere in between giving Hive a direction/purpose, by working with existing platforms Ecency/Peakd etc and somewhere for everyone on Hive. Of course, this has its own issues. Most projects/communnities are stuck in their 'tribes' could we build a bridge between them all and make one 'Hive front' unitied in the goal of taking Hive forward?
I rarely see mentions of 'meet ups' or other events for people to connect, and when I do, they seem to be limited to those already on Hive. So how do we expand from there?
I know I've tried to get people on board with Hive, and I've had very little success, between Crypto friends and real-life ones. I'm sure you all have had similar experiences; there are already some projects/users in this field. But there seems to be more challenges than support, especially in more 'western' countries, where the tiny amount of money you can make with Hive really doesn't make it worth the time. Most 'creators' can find more profit from YouTube/Twitter than they would on Hive, so why waste time here?
Do we use Hive's 'USP' that truely matters? (I'm running with the community building/social aspect) to onboard Real Life users? Creating meet-ups or even Street advertising? Could we have boots on the ground helping people learn about Hive and get involved?
So, a simple 'idea' would then have many aspects and would take many hands to achieve. We already have some people who 'work' in this sort of role. Can we assist them? Can we build upon their foundations, or step into a new dimension of progress?
Being the sloth, I tend to also look at a lot of the negative aspects of things. Heck, we can say, yes, that's a great idea! It's simple: sign people up, get them involved, grow Hive users and eventually the money, and we're all going to be rich!
I'm a realist, even if I hide behind my sloth persona!
So, what then? We sign up new people, give them a brief description of Hive... What do they really gain from being here?
They find a tribe or community, stick within that, maybe post for a few days/weeks/months, realise they're not really gaining anything from their time, then move on. Or worse yet, are scared away by the 'Hive Police' or Whales who take a dislike to them and never come back.
Can we really build Hive as a positive force in the world? Bringing support and love? Or do we accept the world is a shitty place and everyone is trying to bring each other down for their own personal gain?
Ideally, I'd love to see more Hive users come together and build Hive up. But, we all have our own lives, commitments and being all over Hive building and growing is impossible...a team would be required, but how does a team make money and grow? Could we use DHF to create real value for Hive? Or are we simply slothing here until things drain to 0?
Could we have a true 'Hive' community? One that encompasses all platforms and users of Hive? Many Have tried and failed. Even among our small number of users, we have many factions and tribes that don't support one another. Hive can't truly work like this...there needs to be some cohesion, some teamwork...but how do we advance from where we are now to there...
Is it time to take a step back and consider other options...There are easier ways to make money, both offline and online. Maybe I'm simply wasting my time being on Hive altogether... leaving the question, empty my bag now and cut my losses or let it ride and hope it picks up one day...
I guess, I'll leave it there for now...I really need your feedback, I'm going to drop this into some of the other discord servers and promote it via ecency etc...
TL:DR
Some Questions to consider (This post is looking for your feedback)
1) What is Hive's USP (Unique Selling Point) Money Technology Community building Free speech / Censorship resistance
2) Can we have a 'Hive community' for all? A place for all Hivians to build and grow. Whether that be their own projects/communities or just as part of the Socil economy of Hive?
3) Does a place like that already exist that isn't getting enough attention?
4) If I (or you, or 'someone') made a 'Hive community' (Possible name 'This is Hive') with a Discord server for the purpose of supporting 'ALL of Hive', would you use it?
5) Could we look at coming together to make more RL meet-ups or 'on the ground' activism to really spread the word of Hive?
6) Could this be a financially viable option for someone/ a team of people to do?
Maybe with DHF funding, or significant Hive community support? (And the grey area which this brings, how do we get over the 'I don't think 'He/she/they' should receive money from Hive/DHF or my support...So who should? Are you willing to step up and 'manage' a project aimed at supporting Hive, or is it a lost cause?'
The main question:
How do we really take Hive further?