I have never been to HiveFest, even though I would like to go. Each year there is always something that has held me back, whether it be a health issue, a family issue, or just a lack of money. I did go to Poland in 2018 for Steemfest though, and it was a really good time and I still talk to many of the people I met there. However, it was also a different time than it is now, and a different kind of community.
It was more focused.
A common complaint about the trending page was a lot of the content was "inward-facing", meaning it was only relevant to people who were on the platform. A lot of discussions were around developments, hardforks, initiatives, and a plethora of opinions about what was needed to make the blockchain better, and a lot of suggestions and on-chain discussion of ideas and possibilities.
The main complaint was:
"Why would outside people want to see Hive content?"
Well.... the answer is simple.
Because it is interesting and unique.
And what all that content and discussion did was inform people and get them up to speed on the technical and social aspects of the community that they likely didn't have very little experience with before. It meant that a large number of people were able to discuss aspects of Hive that were important to them. Now though, a lot of users know next to nothing about the way the platform actually works, and as such - it is just a platform.
Hive is an experience.
But that is my opinion. I have this because the more people actually engage with the blockchain and get experience with different parts of it, the more engaged and more embedded they become in the community. And what that translates into is, a stronger, healthier, more diverse community. And I think that is what is missing now and why the question should be asked about HiveFest,
Is it still relevant?
Again in my opinion....
Yes it is.
But, it comes with the caveat that it can't just be an event that is organised once a year in a place for a group of less than a hundred to hang out together, it has to be supported all year. Not the event itself of course, but the development and engagement of the community that supports HiveFest.
Hive needs more people who are interested in Hive.
I know, that sounds a bit silly. But even a lot of the witnesses seem disengaged and unwilling to be a leader in the community, to build a diverse community around themselves and their own initiatives, and be part of the daily conversation.
When is the next hardfork?
Shouldn't I know? There was one that was scheduled for Q! 2025 - did it happen? I don't think so, but I have no idea. Other than the announcement a year ago from @blocktrades, I don't think I have heard anything since, so I assume not. Of course, I don't even know if a hardfork is needed, but my point is that a lot of this discussion around the platform itself, really engaged the community.
The "terrible" inward-facing content is content that can't be found anywhere else, unlike a lot of the content that people submit to the chain here now. That means that it is unique. Not only that though, it is the kind of content that brings most of the community together (not often in agreement) because it is something that is common to everyone on Hive, because here we are, on Hive. It makes sense to have more Hive content here that sits alongside other more mainstream content, because it is a unifying factor. Not only that, as a potential investment avenue, the more people understand about Hive, the more likely they are to be part of the discussion, understand the technology, and invest into the potential.
Hive isn't just a platform for users, it is a platform for everyone.
HiveFest shouldn't be about being on holiday with a group of random internet people, it should be about a group of engaged Hive users coming together and discussing and planning Hive into the future. At the technology layer, the economic layer, the social layer - and the overall experiential layer. It should be inspiring, especially in a world that is becoming increasingly volatile and plagued by disconnection and social degradation.
So...
My goal is to go to HiveFest (if it is held) next year. But until then, I am going to start increasing my own engagement with Hive and writing about topics that are inward-facing in the hope to strengthen the Hive community on the social layer. It might not be interesting to a lot of people and at times might be overlapping. But I believe that Hive is awesome and the more people who think the same, the better the community will do at all levels, including the mainstream content level.
Everyone on Hive wins, when the community is engaged.
Engage and give your opinions below.
Good. Bad. Ugly.
Taraz
[ Gen1: Hive ]
Be part of the Hive discussion.
- Comment on the topics of the article, and add your perspectives and experiences.
- Read and discuss with others who comment and build your personal network
- Engage well with me and others and put in effort
And you may be rewarded.
SteemFest 2018 was my last "Crypro-Fest". Was a honour for me to have you on my side during closing dinner in that salt mine.
It was fun, wasn't it? A good week all up! Hope you are well mate.
All good here, hoped you made it to this ship.
I may join you depending on where and when it is. I agree Hive is relevant and for one enjoy many of the posts on Hive especially after spending time getting to know the various personalities behind the posts. Everyone is unique and it comes out in the writing styles and you would know this if you read the various articles day in and day out. Hive fest should be about moving hive forward and discussing issues like the DHF because I do not think I have heard anyone find any positives with the current format.
The DHF needs some kind of an overhaul for sure. It has a lot of potential, but hasn't been used that well so far.
That is how I see it and feel it is a wasted tool for Hive growth and that needs to change through better managing and planning with accountability as this affects the entire hive community.
Steemfest in Poland sounds epic! 🙌 Hope you make it to a future HiveFest! Maybe we'll see racing updates from there! 😉
Hive truly deserves more attention from its leaders.
The project shows great potential for success, but I sense there's a lack of focus on exploiting Hive's strengths.
Promotion is good, but not sufficient.
I believe there should be a discussion about finding easier ways and means to reach the largest number of people and gain new users. In my opinion, the best way to do this is to introduce Hive in a practical, not technical, way, without explaining decentralization and the like. Once people encounter the terminology of decentralization and crypto, they are put off because they don't understand the concept and think it's complicated, which dwindles their interest in the project as a whole.
There's also an innovative and effective way to introduce Hive, which I hope the project leaders will adopt: organizing competitions on traditional Web2 platforms. One of the conditions for the competition is to register on the Hive platform in a simple manner, with prizes in the form of Hive tokens. New, interested users can then register on the platform and gradually learn about it without fear.
The fork didn't happen in Q1. The current version of witness software is 1.27.11. After a hard fork it will go to version 1.28.0 and all witnesses will have to upgrade or not get witness rewards.
Last I heard it is a couple months away...
Apart from the relevance, it's great to finally be able to add faces to the names you know and interact on a frequente basis on the blockchain. I went to Hivefest in Amsterdam in 2022, and made friends I still meet in real life nowadays. A lot could be said about passing the message outside our echo chamber, but Hivefest is definitely an awesome initiative! Hope I'll manage to go for a second time, let's see if the stars align next year.
I think it would be better if HiveFest could include not only Hive people but also big crypto holders. Also, discussions on Hive's hard fork, blockchain development and ultimately Hive's development become important. Hopefully we can get something good out of this and we look forward to your presence there.
Hive is truly a unique platform that am certain a lot of will appreciate once they get to know about it. It takes a while to adjust (especially if you're used to the algorithm feeding you garbage on the big social media platforms), but is gold once you get the hang of it.
Wanted to go but to far away for me , planned to go in Amsterdam didn't work with my health back then , wanted to go this year to Aachen and again my health said no .
I've always liked networking with people on events like that.I'll just have to wait until there is an event in thearea again . so i did vote YES .
I voted relevant.
Even if there are 50 participant, I think we should have it. Why? Because, face to face interactions matters. I think we should choose the venue wisely and spend less. I hope we are doing that already. This year is was reasonably timed for me, but at the last moment my wife's Algeria trip showed up. It is very hard of us to travel during school year, it is basically impossible if one of us is not in town.
I will try next year.