What Does Hive Mean To Me? - A Lot. It Means A Lot To Me

HF23 or the rebranding of Steem to Hive is more than just an update in the code. It is a culmination of a month-long struggle for independence from a centralized control. But before that month-long struggle, Hive is the product of a community-driven initiative to remove the blockchain from the burden it bears since its inception - the Steemit Inc's "ninja-mined stake".

I saw a lot of debates, misinformations, disinformations, and opinions (both educated and uneducated) on Twitter surrounding the struggle and a lot of people in crypto (both prominent and shills) pitched in their ideas. Many argued on the legality and ethics of the Steem fiasco and subsequently the creation of Hive. One thing is certain to me - Hive is the result of a community that's fed up centralized control. Hive is a testament that a principled community can't be bought.

Okay. You don't have to read further; the title of this post has the answer to everything. It took me too long to answer the first initiative on Hive by @theycallmedan maybe because I was too occupied with the happenings last week. Now that we are Enhanced Community Quarantine, I finally had the time to focus on the things that I set aside. Since I'm done with the groceries, it's time to dig in to my answer.

Hive can be a lot of things. Actually, it can be anything as long as anyone in the community believes it to be. While many might saw it as an opportunity, I would say it's a second chance of a squandered opportunity. Steem was the opportunity. It was an attempt bring the blockchain technology to the masses, but it was squandered. Now we have something that could potentially bring that idea into fruition. While Hive is not yet much different compared to Steem, except that Steem is now centralized, I think Hive can be much superior as it evolves and morphs into something that the community wants it to be.

I have no definite answer of what Hive means to me, but one thing I'm sure of is that - Hive means a lot to me. We live in a world that's centralized. Our governments are trying to exercise their control over its people and anyone with a different opinion is seen as a dissident. Hive is a place for me to express myself without fear of censorship. It is by far the truest sense of freedom of expression. That alone means a world to me.

We can finally choose our own direction as to where we want Hive will be in the future and there's no one to blame anymore if we fail, except us, the community. We were given a second chance and I hope we wont fuck it up.

I'm sure the founding group of developers and majority of the stakeholders wanted Hive to succeed. There are tons of amazing ideas that could be explored. There countless of iterations that could be pursued, but as long as the core ideals of a decentralized blockchain is not lost, I'm okay with it.

I joined Steem not knowing anything about how it works and I would say it was one hell of a steep learning curve. I think one of the reasons I stayed is because I saw the potential of the technology and I love the technical stuff, but there are others who don't care about the economics and governance. As much as we want the idea of "on-boarding the masses", I think "retaining the masses" is also equally important. I can say this because I invited a lot of friends before and they're mostly gone. They just want that "social media experience" more than governance and the ins and outs of the blockchain. I don't know how to approach this, but a library of crash-courses maybe should be available.

I want Hive to be a place of constant development and innovation that's initiated and decided by the community. Maybe it's too good to be true, but I want it to be a place of harmony while celebrating its diversity. All ideas and concerns should be taken at equal footing and then validated and decided by the community in a civilized manner. I would love Hive to be a model of decentralized governance. It would be awesome to see it adapted in the real world.

It's a good thing to have funding for future developments, but this is not abuse-proof. It is up to the community to be vigilant held those who promised to deliver be accountable to their actions. There are a lot of empty promises and I don't have a word to say about them anymore. This is the second chance that I'm talking about. This is the chance to bring Hive to heights anyone couldn't even dare to imagine.

As a part of this community, even if I'm just an ordinary content creator, I will keep my eyes and ears open. I will continue to observe where this funding would go in terms of developing Hive. Since there's no central oversight in that funding, it's like a double-edged sword. It could present as a way that multiple developments are done simultaneously, bringing Hive nearer to what the community envisioned it to be or it could be stuck in the middle of internal squabbles, as observed in Steem before.

The funding is perfect and ideal in the code, but once politics and human behavior is factored in, it could easily get messy. For sure though, that the community is already fed up with the previous empty promises. I just hope that the funding will be used properly.

Hive is a place where it wanted to be. I have invested too much in it, in terms of time and effort, and I will continue to invest in it. I have fought for its freedom and I will do it again if the need arises. I have built my dreams around it in the last 2 and 1/2 years and I hope to continue building around it until I can't do it anymore.

Kim Ybañez

_{Welcome to Kim's small corner in Hive. He is a chemical engineer by profession, but a blogger by passion. He is a wanderlust and an adventure seeker. Join his quests as he visits secluded destinations, climbs mountains, tries new and exotic dishes, and explores his country (The Philippines) and the rest of the world even if he's still a poor corporate slave with tons of bills to pay and two siblings to support in college.}