Memory Lane: Thinking Back to How I Got Started on Hive
Yes, I confess: I still have a Facebook account. Or "Meta," as we are supposed to call it, these days.
And I still visit it and use it, from time to time.
For those of you familiar with the social media giant, you're probably also familiar with the "memories" feature, in which you are offered up events/old posts of yours you put up some number of years ago.
Interestingly enough, one of my "reminders" today served mostly as a reminder of why I originally left Facebook in disgust... as a result of the increasingly strident and intolerant tones people were taking with each other, as a result of the 2016 US Presidential elections.
I was just getting tired and fed up by watching long-time friends turn on each other over political issues... and risk long-time friendships to intolerantly scream at each other like rabid banshees.
It was that particular "climate" that made me feel very open to alternatives to Facebook, even if I weren't actively looking for them.
I'll be the first to admit that I was NOT looking for (a) a place to earn money for content or (b) to get involved with blockchain/crypto ANY-thing... I just hoped to find a more intelligent and respectful venue.
I ended up here (meaning "Hive 1.0") more or less accidentally because a friend of mine sent me a link to an article about Universal Basic Income that just happened to be published by an early Hive blogger. The comments seemed a lot more intelligent and respectful than the Facebook mudslinging, so I decided to read a few more articles here, and then I decided to create an account...because why not? I wanted to be able to leave comments...
The rest, as they say, is history.
It has been almost six years since that happened, and these days a good 90% of my writing and social media activity happens here on Hive... although I also still go back to Facebook, now and then.
There are certain things Facebook/Meta still does better than Hive... one of which is the ability to create and share photo albums with friends and family, which in turn perhaps points to one of the features that might work as an improvement to the Hive experience. Not that I know how that would be possible... it's my understanding that actual images are not stored on the blockchain.
I also still use Facebook to promote a couple of my businesses... primarily because of the sheer size of the highly targeted audience I can reach... even if it's at a certain cost.
Of course, these are things that speak to how we each use social media. A large part of my user pattern is that social media is a promotional tool.
And yet?
Hive has mostly served to bring me back to my love of writing and blogging, by offering a "format" that's fairly close to what were were doing with "social blogging," some 20 years ago.
Yes, I'm a bit old-fashioned!
I really don't feel disloyal because I still use Facebook... I do so, because I can turn t into helping us pay the bills. And that matters! And we're not currently in the salad days of $200+ blog posts here, so I still have to explore all avenues in front of me.
But Hive is definitely my number one venue these days... six years later.
Thanks for reading, and have a great remainder of your week!
How about YOU? How did YOU find your way to Hive? Are you a "Facebook transplant?" Comments, feedback and other interaction is invited and welcomed! Because — after all — SOCIAL content is about interacting, right? Leave a comment — share your experiences — be part of the conversation!
Greetings bloggers and social content creators! This article was created via PeakD, a blogging application that's part of the Hive Social Content Experience. If you're a blogger, writer, poet, artist, vlogger, musician or other creative content wizard, come join us! Hive is a little "different" because it's not run by a "company;" it operates via the consensus of its users and your content can't be banned, censored, taken down or demonetized. And that COUNTS for something, in these uncertain times! So if you're ready for the next generation of social content where YOU retain ownership and control, come by and learn about Hive and make an account!
(As usual, all text and images by the author, unless otherwise credited. This is original content, created expressly and uniquely for this platform — NOT cross posted anywhere else!)
Created at 20221129 22:22 PDT
0690/1937
Though I am quite young and I see the people of my age indulge in social media like FB, Whatsapp, Tiktok and bla bla, these things never appealed me. I didn't have any account on FB for many years. In fact I created my account just to join some groups that were offering freelancing work.
Later, I met old friends and started seeing feeds. Honestly speaking, I felt depression if I used FB for an hour and eventually I decided to quit it altogether. Something that helped me quitting FB was I found my way to a blogging site (it no longer exist now). I found a group of people, called as Dreemport on Hive, they guided me about Hive and so I joined. I am happy I did . Hove is the only site I am active at. Juggling between different sites is exhausting for me.
@denmarkguy I also keep my FB account, although I rarely use it, and I do it to connect with some people... But the truth is that Hive is another level, I have met people on the other side of the world and with whom I have felt identified by knowing that they go through situations similar to mine. I have also discovered qualities in myself that I did not know I had, and that is very motivating for me.
I stepped back considerably from Facebook around the same time and for similar reasons. But it's still the best place to keep up with long time friends. It just doesn't hold my interest like Hive does. I love the communities here and I've never been on a platform that had the overall diversity of ideas and cultures as Hive does. It's pretty darn cool.