Hive Needs Way More Communities
Despite the specific title, this will be a more free-flowing post discussing certain thoughts I had about Hive ever since I joined over five years ago. I hope you all read this.
A few days ago, I had noticed this post talking about how we need to build a community to share their stories and get support. I had left a comment opting to create one if no one has created it but without an answer. Partly because the post turned into a strange discussion about the war itself in some comments and because it had too many comments.
Now, you may rightly wonder "Why don't you go ahead and do it anyway?". Well, aside from the fact that it wasn't originally my idea therefore I don't think it is ethical to go ahead and do it. But, either way, I will come back to this later.
Hive Doesn't Have Remotely Enough Communities
At first sight, you might think otherwise. Yes, we do have a lot of communities in numbers. But, not in specificity. Like, we have a few for photography, one for black and white photography, which is something I like. The more specific you are, the better.
However, the issue seems to be about certain types of communities. Like, much like the post about Ukrainians surviving the war, throughout my stay on this site I was often thinking about whether there should be a community about trauma survivors in general.
Instead, I see those posts of people aiming to share their stories or seek guidance disappear, often along with their authors, of Hive entirely. The problem is that those posts are scattered around Hive, making them harder to see. Especially in general-topic communities where people have many posts but don't seem like many eyes go. Now to the questions
Why Don't You Go Ahead And Do It Yourself?
I think there's a misunderstanding of terms when it comes to Hive in general. I don't want to dive into this subject too much, but one term I keep hearing about communities or anything is "Natural growth". Honestly, I have no clue what that means. Not in terms of meaning itself, but in terms of applicability.
I think "natural growth" as an applicable term doesn't exist. Hive has been growing in popularity not because we have been doing nothing, but because people on this chain took it upon themselves to promote it on all different social media sites and different appearances. OCD's onboarders program is a great example of the amount of work and effort it takes.
The same thing I believe applies to communities, well not exactly.
Let Me Explain
If we look at Hive community creators as people in one building, the higher your floor the more you're seen. So for example, if someone who's popular on the platform and has big vote communities in his contact creates a community, that community will have "Natural growth". As people will see that community more often.
On lower levels, that experience is 180 degrees different. Especially, now that community has served as a sort of replacement for the follow button. So, there's just a small room for "Natural growth", and it is not even natural growth as it fully depends on people from the higher floors of the building spotting you.
I know everyone can come up with an example of a community that grew naturally, and I am open to that, provided it comes with a definition of what "Natural growth" means for you. And I know some examples exist, but for everyone that worked, I could name 10 that hadn't.
This takes me back to the point I made about the trauma survivors community as it connects both points and opens room for a new complicated, seemingly contradicting problem.
Why Would Anyone Post In A New Community?
You must have seen those posts in certain communities that don't really belong in that community but had mental gymnastics applied to them to make them look otherwise even though there were communities that are more suited topic-wise but not reward/interaction-wise. There are also communities encouraging posts that don't really belong in those communities.
So, if you had a post idea and the community for that had like 27 people with 5 actives, would you post it there or just do your own mental gymnastics and post it under the guise of another topic? Or simply in general-topic posts? I mean with the latter two at least you have the chance of more eyes.
I know the purest among us would say they'd post it in the right community, but really? And I am not talking to people who come in with their auto votes ready. I am talking about people who joined Hive for rewards or interactions, or a mixture of both.
Words don't spread on their own, the idea of minnow to minnow spreading the word doesn't apply 90% of the time. I have seen way too many come and go because there's always something that feels missing. And I honestly think everyone feels that as well. Like there's something missing, something we can do but is unable to do or even conceive it. This leads me to my final point and I promise this long post will be over.
Are We Stunting Our Own Growth?
For the number of different people and communities on this platform, doesn't it feel like we could do SO MUCH MORE? We see many accounts like Curangle, OCD, Curie, Tribalsteemup, and many more showing support to communities once they become visible enough. Why isn't there a way to start the initiative from there? And most importantly, why isn't there a community for people to share their projects and ideas?
I am talking about a community where one could talk about "Hey, I have this idea about starting a short educational series". I know there are probably places or people where you can suggest these somewhere. But I am talking about a community where you might see like-minded, ambitious people who could even help out.
Another question is why don't we have a collaboration community? Like there are countless graphic designers, sketch artists, and writers. How come we don't have more collaborative ideas, like a Hive comic book where different writers write different stories with digital artists adding a visual aspect to them?
I feel like we all have those ideas but seem to lack a place where they are shared or supported. I mean wouldn't it be cool having something like a Hive Comic Book? Or A Hive show, a Hive podcast, digital art, or any of those things to show outsiders why they should join Hive.
I know some of those ideas already exist in a form, others seem way too ambitious, but the way I see it we do need to be more connected and collaborative. Something beautiful was built here and I think we have great values beyond just being Web3 and decentralized.
I think there's a great untapped potential we aren't really tapping into as we seem to be each floating in different directions.
The End
There's just so much to say and I tried to keep this as short as possible so some ideas might seem incomplete. If you have made it this far, thank you for reading.
I hear ya @amirtheawesome1
As more people come more communities will be built.
This is all basically new in the grand scheme of things, when the internet was first created you had to dial up and there was really nothing there now we have everything we see now.
This is the same here people have already started building and look what has been accomplished already.😎
But at the start from what i hear was the same for Hive as any project in the beginning.
There are a lot of communities you can get busy and involved in.
Have an awesome weekend
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I think I was just trying to compress so much of ideas into one post, that's all lol!
Thank you for reading and commenting, I do see your point.
You are welcome @amirtheawesome1
Have the best day😎
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!ALIVE
@amirtheawesome1! You Are Alive so I just staked 0.1 $ALIVE to your account on behalf of @benthomaswwd. (5/10)
The tip has been paid for by the We Are Alive Tribe through the earnings on @alive.chat, feel free to swing by our daily chat any time you want.
I will soon.
To paraphrase a line from a movie, build it and they will come. I think the Hive is in growth mode and more and more communities will be built. Great discussion point. Thanks
I think essentially, the whole point of the post is me questioning what more I could do personally.
I agree on several things. I have written quite a lot about the traumas that I carry, as you know. And often they were very fitting in the Familyprotection community so I could write a lot there, but when some months ago, I wanted to open up about things, and some very heavy stuff was discussed, I was really wondering where on earth do I post this? So I'm all about having a community where you can share your traumatic events of all kinds (not one topic related but focussed on the trauma and healing etc). Writing that stuff down can be super healing but it sucks when you pour out your heart and soul and only 1 person reads it. That's not even about the votes, but the support or recognition someone probably hopes to find. The last thing you want is to get downvoted when writing such a story.
What I also miss is a place where this all can come together, the good the bad, and the ugly but also the road to recovery, however that may have been. Some seek therapy, others dive into creating art/music, etc, some may start drinking, either way, I feel it would be great to have a common community where these stories can come together. I personally felt so supported when I wrote my very heavy stories and complete strangers understood me. That alone was enough.
As someone goes through traumatic events or is on the road to recovery, some nasty stuff comes out, and sometimes you aren't responding like yourself. Wouldn't it be great to have a sort of support group where we can lift each other up and maybe help someone see some positive things again when things turned really dark? As @generikat mentioned to me earlier this week: "sometimes it helps when a random stranger on the internet shows appreciation or a listening ear." I don't remember your exact words (lol) but it was your words that made me say this here. And oh my gosh I just see your vote when I was writing your name haha.
I love the idea you mentioned earlier today, collaborations that appear out of thin air like that one you had with Carl :) I would be willing to see how we can make this happen and in what form exactly, these are obviously just my thoughts and where I've had some issues along the way.
Looking back at the post, I think I just had too many ideas for one post. It looks chaotic. Maybe I will develop and rephrase some thoughts as well as work on them in the meantime. And hope those work. I think some ideas can be done by us/people on the blockchain. So, we could do our part.
You published it in rant/complain/talk so I guess you're forgiven! :)
Let's start what we discussed it's a good name applicable for many things..
I think it's the perfect spot if you ask me :D
I think you touched on why the communities on Hive don't really feel natural or numerous enough. It's because of the rewards. Unfortunately, people are incentivized to post in communities where they know big whale votes are waiting. As long as that type of curation is going on, the communities here will not feel natural. I didn't even realize until recently that big accounts were curating based on community. Pretty sure you were the one who pointed that out to me.
I don't really have a good answer here, but I wanted to leave a comment anyway. Your idea for a collaboration/ideas community sounds promising so maybe try that? As for me, if I write something that I'm not sure will fit with any community (or if I'm just feeling particularly anti-social at the time), then I just post it to my blog exclusively.
It is a complicated situation and I can't claim to have the answers as well. The whole post was based on me feeling something is missing like there's something more that's not happening.
I do hear your sentiment in the second paragraph, I do that sometimes. As you said, there's no good answer.
Personally, I am planning to start. If it works, it works. If it doesn't, I tried.
Nice ideas, we love Hive! Found this on List nerds! Nice one...
Thanks, I hope I could develop them more and see if I could come up with a useful overall thought.
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I am a HIVE newbie so I do not share your perspective. I can appreciate what you are saying but for me at this point, I am still finding new communities all of the time. Most of that is due to #Listnerds
Who knows? Maybe it's just me. lol! Thank you for reading.
My hope is that this profound ideas get to the right people, implementation of most of these will do much for the Web3 era.
I will start the work and see from there.
There are so many communities but how to find them is a different story. Also the traffic and engagement varies. I find it hard to settle and stick with only one community. The concept of communities within Hive is a good one, yet difficult for ppl like me. Sometimes it feels like pressure to stick with a community. You have to be able to contribute to one specific topic and if you can't or don't for a while you are out kinda. Also the pressure of engaging within a specific community. I'm an open person. Hive to me is one big community. Hive to me is or was the chance to drop my thoughts and shenanigans where I felt it and when I felt it. I have no concept and that can be judged or not. I saw it more as a social thing but that shouldn't mean one have to be here 365 or sticking to a specific community exclusively.
So does Hive need more communities or a way for people to be able to drop topic specific stuff regardless of communities? And how are communities made visible? Scrolling through "All communities" its overwhelming and a bit confusing. I get why ppl stick with the popular ones.
Now one could argue to just share your stuff on your blog and if ppl find your stuff and are interested good for you. But since Hive is connected with money it works different I think. I have no answer, I just think it would be a shame if communities exclude others because they are not members of this community. I dislike borders and being excluded lol.
Is this confusing?
That's an EXCELLENT point. Thanks for bringing it up. I think I will actually work on an ultimate guide to Hive communities. I think both points are still valid, it both seems like we have too many as you pointed but also not enough, or at least that's what I believe.
It's a paradox, we do have too many and not enough lol. Thanks for getting my point, even though I'm not even sure what I wanted to say 😂 . Maybe that I want to have the freedom to drop stuff in any community and be welcome to do so lol.
Okay, I just did some snooping, and there are about 390 active communities, by active I mean with at least 1 post within the last 7 days. I don't think it's possible to categorize them in one post. Maybe a series? I also need to know how to categorize them.
Either way, worry not! You will have an easy way to navigate them soon.
Lol, I just keep doing what I'm doing as of now lol. Randomly showing up wherever, whenever in hopes that ppl love me 😇
Yeah I hear you on that! I kind of wish we could claim “community creation tokens” as well on hive instead of just account creation tokens or use our account creation tokens to organize a community. The cost of 3 hive is steep for many. I could do it but thinking do I want to spend the money? Not really! Lol.
Glad you branched out and chose this community here for the post :D it’s actually been a fun ride to watch it grow out of a funny complaint that a friend on here had, lacking a space to rant or let loose about stuff, to a pretty fun and vibrant community with 300+ subscribers! I know that some popular people have posted in it which gives it some attention but I’ve had a few brand new people post so it’s been cool to see!
I think having more niche communities is good, it’s just finding people to engage in them that’s tricky. I’ve been following a new user here Albus and he’s made a bunch of his own communities and posts in them often but I haven’t seen it get a lot of engagement just yet. Hope the engagement comes with time!
I have a few ideas that I am beginning to implement when it comes to that. I don't even think I was that right in my post. I just had this feeling of something missing and this was the first time I was trying to word it out. Reading the comments is putting things in perspective.
I like the growth of your community and definitely intend to be more active here. I wish I had your patience with it tho lol!
And about creating a community. I actually dove deep into Hive communities, they're endless and there are like 400 active ones (I am working on a community guide). So, I understand people's hesitation, hell even I had it as it took months before starting mine and that was a passion project.
Yes, I reached the finish line. 😄
I share a similar observation, but it took me six months to realize that. I don’t have all the time in the world to learn everything about Hive. I learn by experimenting and part of such learning is to commit mistakes.
Between incentives and engagement as motivation, I actually have reservations every time I encounter such false tension as if Hivers who seek incentives are parasites. Isn't the Proof of Brain algorithm built on such an incentive mechanism? But of course, life is more than that, and that's where engagement becomes meaningful, meeting and conversing with people from different parts of the world through this keyboard in front of us.
As for those who join Hive and left, perhaps one of the primary reasons I observe for the past several weeks is disappointment with powerful downvoters. One content creator I follow identifies impatience and entitlement mentality. Personally, as a newcomer, it is natural to feel that you don't belong in the inner group of a specific tribe, but I consider it not a sufficient reason to leave Hive. Other options exist such as focusing instead on young tribes.
Hivers moving in different directions, I see it is a good thing. Isn't this what decentralization is all about?
I was really using this post as a jumping point for discussion overall.
I get your point about it being a good thing. I just believe there's so much potential not reached. But I do see your point about incentives as well.
Yes, I got it, and I could relate to the many points you raised.
!hivebits
!PIZZA
There are some things I write and there is practically no community to post them so I understand needing more communities.
I also feel a lot of communities need to be flushed out, just my opinion though.
More and MORE DIVERSE communities.
There are dozen or more, communities for photography. We need different communities, not more of the same.
I think I have seen someone say this on his comment, so, I'll repeat it for emphasis sake. "Build it and they will come".
I am working on that lol!
That's awesome. I'll love to drop posts and comments when it's ready... Cheers to the future. ❤️