If you've been following my steps, both as Leo's business developer and as a Hive OG, I've been trying to crack the code on web2 for a while now.
I'm not there yet, perhaps I'll never be there.
But I'm getting closer and closer, at least in theory - in practice is much harder, despite what my recent 650 new followers on X tell you.
It's a hard nut to crack though.
X as the biggest forum to convert new Hivers
It's easier said than done. We've tried for ages with different strategies. It seems like we are far from leveraging the presence of hundreds of Hivers on X, and no matter how hard we try, we are just not reaching enough people and thus, we are not onboarding as many users as we could.
Or maybe we are not really trying
The thing with Hive, which is exactly what differentiates us from basically any other relevant blockchain out there, is that we have a native social media platform where our users can gather and engage with like minded people, exchange opinions, align mindsets, and even fight hostile takeovers in a matter of days.
And we get paid for it.
In italics because well, it's a little bit more complicated than that, but let's oversimplify the concept for the sake of my narrative.
Anyway, we have this amazing place to call home where not only can we invest, speculate, learn and do what any other blockchain offers, but we also have our own Facebook, Medium, Reddit, Twitch, Youtube, Twitter X, Substack and OnlyFans (those two soon).
But that competitive advantage might be what is hindering our web2 presence and thus, trumping our growth.
A blessing in disguise
Now yeah, I know that having a social media ecosystem on top of our blockchain is not a blessing, but something the early days developers actually sought for while writing the code in their basement, but again, you get the point.
And this is precisely what, in my opinion, has unbeknownst to us the users, forced Hive into one of the deepest corners of the blockchairnet.
We don't need Reddit to connect with the community. We do not require Medium to get updates from our favorite projects. If YouTube disappeared, maybe we wouldn't even notice. Twitter is irrelevant for us who want to share thoughts and ideas. We couldn't care less about Facebook.
We don't know what it is to have a web2 social media presence, because we've been ahead of the curve for 7 years already.
And thus, and as a consequence, we lack a real presence in web2. We have zero reach in the platforms where the other 99.99% of the CryptoSpace roams; we have no voice in the places where the average user goes and searches for alpha, creators to follow, leads to research, and pretty much have their whole crypto life in.
Web3 social media is a curse
Because now that we know about it, we simply leave web2.
I mean, it's the only logical move, right?
Well, yes and no. It is the most intelligent decision, but it is also the stupidest one.
It is the best choice for you who understands what is going on in web2 vs web3, and it is the optimal decision for those who already know about Hive.
But what about the other people?
You know, all those web2 users who would adopt Hive without a second thought if only they knew about its existence.
What about them?
Yep. That's why leaving web2 forever is the most stupidest decision if you want Hive to grow.
You found Hive, great. What's next?
You have to stay in web2. It is in your interest NO, it is your duty to stay in web2 and keep bringing more people to Hive. It is your responsibility to open other people's eyes just like yours were opened by someone else.
It is selfish to migrate altogether to Hive when there is still so much more to do in web2 in terms of outreach, onboarding and evangelion.
You owe it to Hive, you know?
You owe it to the Community.
Your text is perfect. A few days ago, I was looking for content about Hive, just out of curiosity, and I couldn't find anything, absolutely nothing in Portuguese. After that, I felt a strong desire to try to create something. I have some experience with Instagram mechanisms and thought about starting there, but maybe if I could create a channel on YouTube, it would be more effective. I'm thinking about starting to do that when I have some spare time.
The Brazilian community has a lot of room to grow, and I know that this could be a good way to do my part. Now that I've just read your text, these thoughts I had make even more sense.
I mostly managed to get people to hive through splinterlands. Developer space and communities are kind of slow and dead here on hive so nobody is here for that.But games is one of the reason you can bring new people.
This is well written. I myself has significantly reduced time spent on fb due to Hive. But you are right we are not leaving enough mark on web2 to make the presence of hive be more recognizable. I guess the key is to still keep pushing on. Little growth is still growth.
O.O Eric be starting a movement.
#Web2toHive
Who is Hive?
Perhaps if enough people could understand that when the word "Hive" is mentioned, that they are the ones being called then they may actually care a bit more.
But the truth is that it's quite difficult to get people to see themselves for what they really are.
🎯 Good point! I am posting most of my Hive articles on X two and have found Hive myself via a X/Twitter two years ago. We need to advertise Web3 on Web2 platforms to make people aware. Onboarded several people to Hive like that.
PS: We will have a Hive „OnlyFans“?! 😜
I guess having a look at current Hive users could be something very interesting as well.
Try to understand the past to figure out the future!
When I think about my onboarding, I searched for a p2e game and found Splinterlands. Only a couple of weeks later I figured out which possibilities Hive was offering in terms of blogging. It took me even months to figure out the other Dapps. And even today I am still discovering new Dapps on Hive.
I am leaning more and more into the idea of teaching the various LLM(s) about Hive and Web3 so that the terms become synonymous for them.
My thinking is that they are what will be steering the next generation of Web2 algorithms and search engine answers... so why not!