Today is my 4th Anniversary on the Hive Blockchain. That is difficult to believe. Like many things I look at in my life, it seems like the past 4 years on Hive has been both an eternity and the blink of an eye at the same time.
I imagine myself getting some tattoos in the future… we’ll see if that comes to fruition. If I do, somewhere nestled within the imagery I imagine the number 36,926 will have a place. That’s my Hive account ID, and I’m pretty proud of that low number. While I wasn’t among the very first… I was pretty early to the game. I suppose that number enshrined on my skin would be a bit like a “gang tat” as I rep Hive4Life!
I remember reading an article about Hive (called Steem at that time of course) in some mainstream media… Yahoo! Finance if I recall. The blockchain itself had been live for some months, but the project was now getting more press as it was right after funds could be withdrawn for the first time. There had been a lockdown period at launch. Suddenly the money was real, not just fake internet points anymore. That was the catalyst for the first big run in users and price. So yeah, I was part of that gold rush.
I never thought it was going to be easy money. But I was already hooked from reading the basic concepts in that first article. With a bit of a background in webcomics and self publishing, I could instantly see how applicable Hive was, and the immense potential it had for content creators and audiences. I was the kind of person to get excited off of any money earned by my work. A good month for me was a few dollars in ad revenue from my websites… but even those mere pennies were exciting and inspiring for me, coming in as they did, passively while I slept.
My first Hive post, 4 years ago today, earned 16 cents. I totally butchered the markdown code in spots, omitting a whole paragraph, things out of alignment… to the point that I didn’t know how to fix it, and was getting repeated errors when I tried to… having exhausted my allotted amount of transactions at the time.
I soldiered on. A few days later I posted a drawing I made specifically for a “Drawing Jam” someone had started. It was a drawing of Wonder Woman that netted me another 12 cents. That same day I posted my introduction again, attempting to abandon the dumpster fire of my first post’s formatting. I got some more responses, a few more followers, and no payout on that one… it was a repost after all!
Ah, the good old days. At that point there wasn’t even the ability to follow anyone! I was simply bookmarking some users as I discovered them… but even that wasn’t entirely necessary. For at least the first couple months I remember popping open the “new” feed about twice a day, and that being enough to skim every single post made to the blockchain. Of course volume of posts picked up, user interface improved, and the world of Hive today is very different from what it looked like back then.
I didn’t post much. (To this day I still don’t post as much as I’d like!) Although I wasn’t discouraged by my early posts, I think I was trying to figure out how to use this strange new tool, and determine just what I had to say with it. A couple months in, on September 21st of 2016 I posted some of the first finished concept art I had for the new comic I began working on, “I Thought It Would Be Zombies…” That post netted $36. A follow up a few days later, showing some work in progress, took in another $32. I was on my way and more hooked than before. Ever since, Hive has been specially entwined with this creative endeavor of mine.
Hive is motivational. It’s not about the money for money’s sake. It’s about freedom, opportunity, and possibility. It can be discouraging to labor on a story for thousands, or tens of thousands of hours not knowing if it will ever see the light of day. Hive has helped ease that trouble and keep me moving forward. There’s a sense that through sharing my journey on Hive, at the end I’ll have the resources to see it through, my little “war chest” to publish and market and birth my baby into the world. More than that, there’ll actually be some people waiting for it too. Through Hive I’ve met people from all over the world, a couple actually in person. (Something I’ve never done meeting strangers off of other social media) I actually have a few fans! People exist willing to support my art, and purchase what I make… and make me feel accountable to make more. Daily I’m inspired by the amazing work of others on Hive as well, motivated by others stories of triumph, and humbled by the adversity that many in this world face.
I crave more Hive Power, as much to give as to receive. 4 years later I’m still enthralled that by the simple act of “liking” posts on social media I can help other artists fund their projects, chip in my little bit toward a needed surgery, or help put food on someone’s table in times of turmoil. I’m account #36,926 but I’ve managed to work my way into the top 500 holders of Hive Power and I want to keep improving on that ranking.
4 years ago I couldn’t even follow anyone… and one website was the entirety of the Hive ecosystem.
Now I’ve created a community that I own. I can choose from a half dozen ways to post to Hive. I can get rewarded for tracking my steps. I play collectible card games. I sell tokens of my artwork to digital art collectors and wander the streets of virtual cities to find it on the walls of a blockchain based art gallery… All on Hive.
The truly amazing part about all of that… we haven’t even begun. The number of people using Hive worldwide… the money within the ecosystem… it’s so small that you might not even be able to call it a rounding error. I may be celebrating my 4th anniversary, but if you joined a month ago, or you’ll join a month or a year from now; you’re still a pioneer. It’s still so early.
I can think of two different quotes from one of my favorite movies; The Pixar Story, that sum up Hive for me at this moment in time, and perhaps explain why the last 4 years feel like an eternity that’s gone by at the speed of light… conundrum though that is.
Pixar is of course the movie studio which pioneered early 3D animation and is responsible for a nearly unbroken string of hits over the past 20+ years beginning with the original Toy Story. The Pixar Story is a great documentary which gives a look at their early years, struggling to develop new technologies that would ultimately spawn an entirely new industry. I find it a fitting analogy for Hive and the nascent blockchain and cryptocurrency space.
Pixar co-founder John Lasseter reminisced about seeing the movie Tron for the first time;
“Computer animation excited me so much, I was not excited by what I was seeing, but the potential I saw in all this… I was just amazed by it.”
Lasseter was able to look past the obvious technical limitations and rudimentary applications of the earliest 3D work and visualize the amazing outcomes it was truly capable of.
Prior to the release of Toy Story, Pixar had actually been around for many years developing their technologies and honing their craft. As they burst into the public eye Pixar was hailed as an overnight success story. Early investor and tech visionary Steve Jobs remarked,
“If you really look closely, most overnight successes took a long time.”
Hive is clunky, rudimentary, and above all… brimming with potential. Every day we build toward our overnight success story.
I truly believe that. It’s why I’m still here 4 years later.
But even if Hive goes nowhere… if the blockchain grinds to a halt and every server and node spontaneously combusts at the same time… I still come out the other side of this experience with friendships, fans, and a growing body of work that I’m proud of.
Now, should the value of Hive go to the moon… that’ll just be the icing on the cake.
mmm. Cake. Happy Anniversary to me. I'm off to spend the afternoon as I should. Reading a new artbook, "Hive-ing", and eating cake!
- Bryan “the Imp” Imhoff
A huge thanks to everyone who so far has made my Hive journey memorable and enjoyable. I avoided naming lots of names and tagging folks in this post simply because I didn’t want to leave anyone out. I hope a lot of you can see yourselves reflected in this post and kinda know I’m talking about you! I’ve got a feeling the next 4 years are going to be even crazier, and I’m glad to have you all by my side!
I've just realised I missed the notification for my 3rd Hive birthday. Doh! It was 10 days ago... There I was thinking what a good excuse for cake!
That's a lot of changes you've stuck it out through. Good to read a story that goes this far back. I'd never even heard of Steem until the day I joined up. I feel like I must have missed so much.
I'm always looking for an excuse for cake...
Please don't take the following negatively- I'm sincerely curious- since there was a lot of emotional drama in conversion from Steem to Hive ... And I'm not going down that road!
Does it feel disingenuous to say you've been on the Hive Platform for 4 years when it was Steem until only a handful of months ago? I've been here since June 2017, about 11 months fewer than you, but I don't think that I'd feel comfortable to say that I'm celebrating my first "Hive" anniversary until the hard fork date.
I'm just curious if that thought went through your mind as you were posting this/ why you decided to completely neglect mentioning the blockchain that shall not be named 🙂
I had the one line in there that Hive was formerly referred to as Steem!😄
It honestly feels like the right thing to say and celebrate to me. Hive was simply forced to leave the name of Steem behind, and I think that was a good thing. But in all other respects Hive is in my eyes Steem Classic for lack of a better term.
As far as the Hive blockchain is concerned, my account was still created 4 years ago today. Blockchain forks are an odd phenomenon to wrap my head around of course... but I look at it this way...
If I was hiking for three and a half hours and veered right at this fork; a half hour later I wouldn't say I'd been hiking for a half an hour. My path was four hours long, and it hasn't varied, regardless of whether there were other directions I could have gone. That's how I feel about my Hive journey.
(conversely, I also wouldn't say that today is also my fourth anniversary on Steem, because that's the path I haven't followed.)
That split in the path analogy is bang on. I am coming up to my forth birthday next month too.
Oh bugger - looks like I'm blocked on your posts - no idea why, let me know if you feel like it!
Well, to be fair, you are a self admitted offensive prick! Honestly we're just on completely different ends of the political spectrum. I don't recall exactly what tag feeds I was following or why your content was popping up often for me, but I know that I was probably typing an argumentative comment or hovering over the downvote button and opted for the mute button instead.
Call me triggered, or building an echo chamber... it was just to keep myself out of drama. I believe your comments are only "blocked" on PeakD for those using the option to filter by author preferences. I don't think people should necessarily make use of that setting. It's not my intent to censor your well intentioned comments here.
No worries - I think the mute button is a great idea and use it myself (but I hate downvotes)
I won't get into any subjects here because I have no idea which ones are problem areas. I've unfollowed you so as to avoid commenting on your posts in future, but no hard feelings and thanks for answering.
I'm always a bit surprised when my frot account is muted because in my mind I'm very restrained on this account (especially on Hive) - the same cannot be said for some of my old Steemit accounts!
It's exactly what I'd say as well (my forth birthday is next month)
The only emotion I had at leaving Steemit for Hive was happiness at getting a fresh start. By 2019, Steemit sucked and I was only still using it because I didn't want to walk away from what had taken three years to build. But the truth is I had come to hate the place. Since the hardfork I've never again posted, commented or even voted on k.Steemit, and just look at it for about 1 min once a week to see if it is still there.
Hive now is what Steemit was for the first two years
I stopped activity on Steem as I didn't want to be part of a transaction count metric shilled to promote Justin Sun's personal blockchain. I still peek in from time to time as well to see what's going on there (which is not much), kind of like a creepy slow cruise past an ex's house...
You're definitely an asset to the community!
Aw shucks... you'll make me blush. 🤗
Congratulations on the anniversary.
Thank you! It couldn't have come on a better day with the seemingly reinvigorated crypto markets to mark it!
I've been thoroughly enjoying your stuff so far. Please keep up the fantastic work!
I appreciate you saying so and thanks for all the support! I'll do my best to keep it up.
We are lucky to have you here. And congratulations.
Well thank you, and thank you!
I joined about a week after you. It has been a fun journey. I am so glad I went to Steemfest a couple of times and it's a shame you were not there. The #comics community here is growing and has resulted in me spending a bit of money. Lots of potential as you say.
I'm glad I didn't get a Steem tattoo. I think at least one person did. I notice you still have a Steem logo in your footer.
I have been signing people up via Twitter and am talking to a couple of new users right now. It can be a lot of work to get them into it. They have to put in the effort to make connections.
Hope all is well with you.
I wish I'd had the means and opportunity to hit up a Steemfest. I hope there will be more big meetup possibilities in the future. Your support of #comics has been exemplary for all of us working on them. A big thanks. I'm sure I speak for guys like @drwatson and @katharsisdrill as well.
Argh! How have I not noticed that lingering Steem logo on my footer banner! I gotta work on that! 😅 Sadly, quite a few of the materials I had printed up for that last comic convention are Steem centric as well. I might not have reused them anyway... but the needed rebrand there seals the deal!
Maybe some day there will be a comicon based around Hive and we can all meet up somewhere.
wuao my dear Bryan 4 years ... Congratulations you are a wonderful artist with impeccable work, when entering wonderful communities like this we give ourselves the opportunity to meet great artists and people like you ... CONGRATULATIONS I hope it can be many more years to keep enjoying your work..😍💋🎉
Thank you so much. I always appreciate your comments and enthusiastic support!
Four years of many more my dear Bryan, congratulations on your four years!!!
I between a year after you and I really did not know that part that you could not even follow other users at that time... when I entered everything was "nice" and it was something more tangible and with real money that allowed me place food on the table for my family.
I don't remember the exact date I met you but when I did it right away I could see how good a person you are in addition to how talented and incredible an artist you are, the time back then allowed me to "harass lol" each of your publications And I loved seeing all that progress that you showed us about your project, I hope you have more projects and they all come to light and be a success since you deserve it.
I hope that book was very good and that you enjoyed your cake.
Greetings and that HIVE I got to the moon and beyond. ;)
The cake photos in your recent anniversary post put mine to shame! I'm so glad to have met you through this blockchain journey. Hive may or may not go to the moon... but your art career definitely will launch spectacularly. It's been a pleasure to watch. You are, and will continue to be one of the biggest success stories here.
hehehehehe thank you love, how sweet you are, do not praise me so much... it is your post and you deserve all the credits but I thank you for each of those words and for thinking all that about me, I am also very happy to have met you and shared a little these moments with you. ;)
Damn, you write really well! Why don't you write regularly? Busy drawing instead, eh?
It would be a delight to read more from you.
Your thoughts about hive and your journey will inspire many, if they take the time to read it.
I can sense that feeling. It doesn't have to be art specifically, but anything creative. A sense of continuation, a platform to express oneself can change the game for an individual. I don't know yet if hive is that for me but I'm seeing some potential here.
This actually made me smile. Maybe I'll be able to use that phrase 'back in the day' on hive someday. 😉
Thank you so much and right back at you. I've been enjoying your content here so far and am glad you joined up!
I wish it was just that! Obsessively browsing and reading on Hive is a problem too! Also, just as it is with my art, the writing is also held back by perfectionism and self doubt for sure.
I've always had this feeling, admittedly I think it may also be tied in with perfectionism and procrastination though! To my detriment I've sometimes focused too much on building a home or channel for content... to the neglect of the content itself!
I've sensed so and that's very reassuring to know! Thank you as well. 😇
I've been here for just a couple of weeks or so but as I've seen so far, as a social media site, hive doesn't have many interactions. The reason is probably as you said, it is quite young as a platform. I have a suspicion though. Since there is a money aspect entangled with it, many users who DO NOT have enough power to curate, do not bother reading (or voting). True that their non-existent power may not give the author any rewards but it can give something more valuable—support and a boost in the morale, "Hey, we're here and we're watching you."
I'm not blaming them though and also I could be wrong. One perspective, after all.
Yesterday on #hivechat twitter frenzy someone said there should be a discord like wing attached to hive and I really really agree with them.
Perfectionism is actually preferred way of doing things, if you can discard 'procrastination'. 😉
I feel like the "silent consumer" is often underestimated. I still browse Facebook and particularly Instagram regularly due to the art content I follow on there. People have been negative about the interactivity on Hive, but it largely seems in line with or better than social media as a whole.
Looking at some posts in my Instagram feed now (not my posts, artists I follow) ; 2,189 likes/55 comments. 52 likes/ 1 comment. 3,698 likes/7 comments. 75 likes/no comments.
Engagement is tough. For every person who actually engages, I think there are hundreds who still genuinely consume and enjoy the content but do not make their presence known.
The dynamics of Hive so far are very much shaped by the very small userbase. I hope it will continue to grow and evolve... The biggest hope is that it evolves to the point where rewards are a bonus, but not a purpose. It would be so much better if more people used Hive "normally" and let the rewards mechanisms just work in the background.
Your current Rank (118) in the battle Arena of Holybread has granted you an Upvote of 27%
That's exactly how I feel. Years later, I'm still excited by the potential of Hive and I just can't let it go. (Not that I want to really)
The other social don't have this appeal to me anymore.
It's been only 3 years for me but I really though it was longer than that tough.
Anyway, many more years to come.
Cheers to all content creators on Hive. I'm convinced there's a bright path ahead of us. ;-D