Dear Hivers,
Hive has completed 100 wonderful days! 🎉
It is official. With no kings and queens, Hive’s kingdom continues to flourish.
In fact, I have been watching this like a hawk. And I am absolutely delighted to share our 100 day journey:
Every citizen in this kingdom has played a massive role. From readers to authors to developers and investors. Each one, in their own way, shaped Hive to what it is today.
To see a completely community-based platform listed on some of the top exchanges — volunteers adding extreme efforts — devs developing kickass apps — combined with major witness support — and then walking in the crypto street with our head held high is nothing short of a miracle.
What other platforms haven’t achieved in months and years… Hive did it in a couple of months.
Exactly 100 days, in fact.
It is strange when we look back and think of the first week. I remember seeing the Discord channel filled with uncertainties and doubts. The wallet issues. And how powerful people behind the woods could crush the platform.
It took courage to move things. Courage to try something new. Courage to accept the uncertainty — and immense courage to invest hours together, day in and day out… almost restlessly...
So to everyone who have been doing this fabulous work, I thank you!
Right now, this wonderful feeling also leads us to the next set of challenges. Next set of engaging problems. Next set of new issues.
So let me revisit everything as a blogger — and share my thoughts and opinions. Some of them you know. Some perhaps new. But I wish to share everything:
Coming from a middle class family, I saw blogging as a life-changing tool. I went from nothing to making a lot of money in a short amount of time. It literally changed our lives.
So as I compare blogging to Hive, I can say a couple of things that are good about Hive:
1. Fantastic Engagement
Example:
The love I have received is not even close to what I saw in blogging. It is a business there. And here it is fun.
Perhaps because everyone’s goal is the same: to see the platform thrive. What a goal to have, isn’t it?
In the world filled with individual growth, collective growth is massively fun!
Never been part of such a community.
2. Everyone’s Invited
Some believe it is difficult to onboard new users on Hive.
But I strongly believe the motivation should also come from the users. Those who are eager can stay here and reap the benefits.
Despite all these, the numbers are only growing. From 50 to 100 accounts to over 250+ accounts every single day.
3. The Magical Freedom
Because I don’t have to think of monetisation, I can write anything and everything. I can completely focus on what I love to write.
I even created 3 series:
And I have shared things I wouldn’t normally share: 100 days of lockdown.
4. These Amazing Dapps
Even though I have been in crypto for two years now, I didn’t explore decentralized apps until recently. From Splinterlands to dCity, I have used a variety of apps:
Within 100 days, most of the apps have migrated to Hive and also migrated into my heart. They are pretty freakin’ cool.
5. Vibrant Community in All Directions
So much that it gets overwhelming. I get messages, comments, and see notifications.
And then, we have separate local communities that are engaging in conversation. I don’t know what motivates everyone but I do know that everyone is motivated.
There’s so much going on that I am absolutely sucked into it. I like that.
Because I am part of the community, it is also my responsibility to share the “bad” things I have noticed. I am expecting improvements.
1. Hive.blog Needs Improvement
Few simple things:
The editor isn’t the most sophisticated. If anything, it is extremely limited.
I really can’t discover new content easily. The homepage shows trending content. Need more ways to sort content easily and quickly.
No recommendation. While this is a personal choice, relevant reading recommendation has proven to increase retention rate.
Also surprised there is no “trending” tags (like Twitter hashtags) on the homepage. We can definitely use one.
2. The Weird Curation + Community Power
I guess I will never understand this one. Three years ago, things were different. Now I find it strange that I have to post in a certain community.
Curators from one community don't vote for posts published in a different community.
Also, not sure why we do we need so many communities. Again, posting on one hides the content from the rest. Or impacts visibility.
(Until we cross-post – which is, ugh, spamming).
3. Lack of marketing
I notice a fantastic group on Twitter that continues to promote Hive. And then there is also Discord channels where we discuss marketing and promotion. But for some reason, we definitely could use marketing funds. As I spoke to @stellabelle and @roomservice, I am absolutely certain this fund is crucial.
In fact, I remember investing 3 days to write this article. It saw no traction. Basically, the plan was simple:
- Hive’s technical momentum is fantastic — it appeals to the developers
- Hive could also use a marketing fund
- This way, a specific amount of money is assigned to marketers (community members).
I would like to explain this again with some screenshots:
Phase 1: We allot a fixed number of Hive Dollars for the marketing.
Phase 2: We start a competition where groups perform marketing activities outside of Hive.
Phase 3: We use the DPoS mechanism to vote for these groups. The top winning group earns HBD from the pool. This happens every month.
In the past, I have complained about the lack of authors. I really wanted to see a lot of authors here.
Like Medium.
But I missed one thing: Hive is not another Medium. In fact, after trying out Medium, I am convinced: Hive.blog shouldn’t be Medium.
Hive should be as it is — a purely social blockchain platform with a mix of long and short-form content. From photos to art to videos. It really humanizes the entire experience. And then there’s blockchain that has variety of purposes.
Among the 12 purposes, the most important one I believe is to make the Internet better again.
And finally, one more thing:
In Hinduism, there is a concept of cleanliness. If you stay clean, the world is clean.
In fact, it applies to Hive. If we grow, the entire ecosystem grows. Such individual growth should always lead to collective growth.
Therefore, whatever we do, a collective growth mindset is incredible important for a platform like this where there are no owners, no CEOs, and no corporate leaders.
It is simply us — and we must operate with our full potential.
We have to be invested for the future.
And with this, I really hope and wish we enjoy this journey with a smile. I hope and wish we continue winning the next 100 days and more to come.
Let's make some serious impact together...
And celebrate with a smile! 🙏😍 🎉
Cheers,
Sid
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