This will be a weekly update post focusing on onboarding new members to the Hive Community. While my personal focus is on onboarding Surinamese creatives and creators to the platform, this digest is available to everyone on the platform and will be writing in English so everyone has easy access to the information.
Fawaka?
Welcome to Hive!
You are here because someone convinced you that Hive is the future of Social Media / The Blockchain / Cryptocurrency / The World / Your Life!
Wat is Hive?
I’ll spare you the real technical story. It is important to know the difference between Hive Blockchain Technologies (a cryptocurrency mining company) and Hive, a DPoS powered blockchain & cryptocurrency. Hive, also known as $Hive is fast and scalable blockchain that managed to achieve ‘Proof of Work’ in a very short time, due to years of hard work of many developer who were involved in a previous (not to be named) project with similar goals. If you want to learn a little more about blockchain technology, have a look at this video for a short explanation and if you are the invested kind, make sure to check out www.hive.io to learn more about the Hive Blockchain.
Hive Rewards
The great thing about the Hive Blockchain is the way it has been set up as a Social Blockchain. The blockchain allows (micro)blogging, meaning you can post on the blockchain and others can respond to it. The unique aspect of Hive compared to other social media is the rewards part (something which might or might not have attracted you to the platform in the first place). You can upvote content and others can upvote your content as well. The value of the upvote is related to the amount of power the users that upvote the post have on the blockchain. This ‘power’ can be built up through creating quality content, curating quality content, but also through investing in the platform through buy in.
Hive Basics
A couple of Hive related terms, just to get you started:
Feed:
A normal Social Media feed which allows you to read content posted by people that you follow.
Wallet:
Your digital wallet. It holds your Pending Rewards, HIVE, Hive Power, HBD, Hive Savings and an overview of your transactions.
Pending Rewards:
These are rewards that you are about to receive in the next 7 days due to curation or postings.
HIVE:
Your Hive Tokens, which you received through earning and exchanges, the actual cryptocurrency you can use for payments, to power up or to save.
Hive Backed Dollars (HBD):
A value based Hive token that is also a form of cryptocurrency, of which the value is close to USD 1. Post rewards are connected to HIVE or HBD, meaning you will often be paid out in HBD. You can easily convert your HBD to HIVE on the market.
Hive Savings:
Your personal safe on Hive which you can use to save you HIVE or HBD in case you don’t want to use it straight away. Be mindful that it takes 3 days to Withdraw HIVE or HBD from your savings.
Hive Power:
Staked Hive Tokens. You can power up your Hive tokens to receive more Hive Power. The higher your Hive Power, the greater the voting power on content posts and the higher the curation rewards when voting on content posts. Your Hive Power is also connected to the available resources credits you have on the Hive Blockchain.
Resource Credits:
The amount of credits you have, to do transactions on the Hive Blockchain. This includes, posting, voting and commenting. Your resource credits recharge during the day.
Dapps:
Decentralized Applications. These mobile or web-based apps are connected to the Hive Blockchain and allow you to use their interface, while getting rewarded in Hive as well.
Reputation score: Every member starts of with a reputation score of 25. Once you provide value to the blockchain, your score will increase. The score is listed right next to your name.
So what makes Hive different from other Social Media platforms?
- Well, Hive Rewards of course. While there are several other blockchain connected networks that offer paid rewards, there are few with a similar community, a complete freedom of posting and transparency like Hive.
- Decentralized freedom. Hive is currently the closest thing you will get to a decentralized platform. Meaning you are free to post what you want. Of course, at your own risks, because people can down vote your content if you are completely oblivious and lack empathy whatsoever. And yes, you will get flagged for plagiarism. So always make sure to post your own work and to credit others if you make use of copyright free images.
- It is important to note that because you are active on a transparant blockchain, meaning your wallet and all your actions are visible.
When I first came to Hive (back them the Beta version of St**m), I considered it to be a mix between Medium and Reddit. If you want a little more in-depth info, check out this story by @sidwrites where he compares Hive to Medium:
@sidwrites/medium-versus-hive
What to do once you are on Hive?
There are a lot of things to do when you first join Hive. But, it can also be a little overwhelming. You don’t know where to start, don’t know what to post and if you post something very random, you might not get any response. On one hand, it could be discouraging. On the other, hey, doesn’t your journey on every platform start out like that (unless you have a huge following that moves with you). So, what is a good way to start?
Observe and listen
This goes for any Social platform. There is a very popular Forrester Ladder of Social Media Engagement that shows how you can climb the ladder of social engagement from an inactive to a creator and what percentage of users fits into what category. While it is already 10 years old, it explains why you first become a spectator before you actually start commenting and posting by yourself. Take it from someone who was around 6 months before putting out the first post. It helps to get a feel of the community first. While I’m not advising you to wait half a year, do spend the first week on Hive exploring the different communities, topics and maybe even contests that best suit you. Get acquainted with the Hive community is definitely some advice I’d like to give.
Create an Introduce Yourself post
The best way to introduce yourself is to make your first post an Introduce Yourself post. It helps the community learn a little bit about you and your interests. Don’t make it feel like a mandatory assignment, just be authentic. Pictures definitely help and make it personal. Some members will even take their time to give tips or direct you to someone or a community which has similar interests to you. If you need some inspiration, check out recent #introduceyourself posts.
Learn about the people and the Communities
There are a lot of great communities on Hive. To be honest, I have never fully committed to a community, mainly because I tend to take prolonged breaks, but there are a lot of communities that I support, or that have supported me through the years. So, some members and communities that I would advice you to follow:
@mariannewest and the Freewriters Community
Marianne is one of the nicest people I’ve ever met and one of the few people I’ve connected with on the blockchain and also personally met. The Freewriters Community is a great place for aspiring writers to start with 5 minute freewrites and move up from there.
@flaxz en This Is Awesome
Erik is another person that puts in a lot of work on the Hive Blockchain and documents his journey along the way. With his This Is Awesome Community he searches for Awesome content to share with the community.
@acidyo en de OCD Community
Of all the members I’m listing today, I think @acidyo is the one I know the least about. But when you are one of the most respected members of the community (I’m not sure if I follow anyone with a higher reputation score), who manually curates content and fights off people who plagiarize.
@bluemist en de GEMS Community
@bluemist is another person who fights of abusers behind the scenes and does a lot for the community. The GEMS community seeks out good content (GEMS) and rewards with user retention as the main goal.
The OCD and GEMS communities are two of the biggest communities on Hive, so make sure to read and understand their rules and how they work. Using their tags doesn’t automatically means you deserve an upvote. And don’t abuse the tags. Just don’t.
@jaynie and the PowerHouseCreatives
For those who really want to go all in, the PowerHouseCreatives is the group for you. You will need to prove yourself and be committed, because you have to be a PowerHouseCreative. I’ve been eyeing to join the group for months, but I’m just not active enough. @jaynie and other members of the PHC’s also run some fun contest for which you don’t have to be in the PHC community.
@steem.leo and the LeoFinance Community
If you are into finance. Anything blockchain or cryptocurrency related, you should definitely join this community.
@pennsif > my main source for news on the Hive blockchain. A well respected member of the community that also share quality posts.
@crypto.piotr > Someone who you might find very different from others, but with a strong love for blockchain technology and founder of Project Hope.
@jongolson > If you want to grow on Hive, make sure to follow Jon.
@stackin > If you want to make Hive a big part of your crypto portfolio, have look at his content.
@roomservice > Don’t know why I didn’t follow you yet, but so much awesome development in the past month. I’m especially thankful for the Wordpress plugin for Hive and HBD payments.
@thedarkhorse > Someone who has done a lot for small accounts including myself. If you want him to open up Pay it Forward on Hive, comment here
Some names I feel I just can’t leave out, because I know they did great things in the past which I’m thankful for and I feel anyone that joins the Hive blockchain should follow: @followbtcnews, @aggroed, @netuoso, @ausbitbank
Basically, people I would vote for as witnesses if I didn’t use @theycallmedan as my voting proxy (I’ll explain this sentence for 'newbees’ in a future Hive Newbees Digest). Actually, I checked it. All four of them are on his list. Including some people that helped me out in the past like @pharesim and @arcange, and people I started following more recently like @roelandp and @holger80. In fear of missing some names, I’m going to keep it at that. The point is, you should follow them if you want to learn more about the Hive Blockchain. And you should definitely follow @nathanmars. If you don’t follow @nathanmars you and I have a problem.
In all seriousness. These are all suggestions. You don’t have to do anything. You should follow the people you have a great conversation and create a bond with. And/Or people that help you out. Just like on other social platforms. Just like in real life.
That’s how I met @pixiepost, @traciyork, @prydefoltz, @owasco and @kaelci. And many others... through genuine interaction.
Last but not least, there is also a Hive Gaming Community. I personally don’t play games on the blockchain, but if you are into gaming, you should check it out.
Dapps
http://hive.blog/ > Basically the official blog site for the Hive Blockchain.
@peakd > Currently my go to app. I do everything on Peakd. From reading new posts, upvoting, commenting, transactions, even delegating Hive Power. The interface is great and it even has features I haven’t even tried yet.
@actifit > If you are into being fit and earning for your daily activity, do check out actifit. It’s great app for both tracking your steps and earning a little on the side as well.
@threespeak > If you are into video, you should be on Threespeak. Yes, I know I know, I have to be on there as well. I’ll make a video next week.
@esteemapp > The esteem app will be undergoing a name change and currently is the only mobile posting and engagement app I’m recommending for Hive.
@steempress > Hasn’t posted recently on Hive and I’m mindful that a name change of a Wordpress plugin could be a difficult task. But, last month Steempress confirmed that you can post from your blog to Hive using the Wordpress plugin.
@splinterlands > Probably the hottest game on the chain right now. On any blockchain that is.
Also very useful to know is you can get a complete overview of your key Hive info at Hiveblocks.com. Just use Hiveblocks.com/@username to view your activity and account info.
Contests
I didn’t have the time yet to list all the contests/challenges that I know about, but let’s start off with a couple that are on top of my mind and then update this on a weekly basis.
If you are into musics, make sure to check out @jaynie's Track of the week contest.
Another PHC member @zord189 also has a weekly contest, called the bucket list contest.
If you enjoy beer, don’t miss out on @detlev’s Beer Saturday. A fun challenge that allow drinking ;).
If you like photography, you can check out monochromemonday.
Also, @tattoodjay’s Wednesday Walk is very popular. He himself is currently on a hiatus, but you can still participate.
Last but definitely not least, check out @flaxz's IAmAliveChallenge initiative on @threespeak.
Onboarding Updates
I started using @roomservice's Hiveonboard referral program (Thanks for bringing @hiveonboard to my attention @hivepeople) and sent out a Facebook post and a Tweet to test the waters for new members to join.
The first week, there were three new registered members:
Welcome @richenel17
Welcome @vincentpolak
Welcome @jeredsr
You will all be receiving this post in your inbox and I’m looking forward to seeing your introduceyourself post. I’ll be giving new members that joined through to my referral 15 HP delegation as long as I still have enough HP. If I run out, I might seek some help 🙂.
If you are new and seeking delegation, make sure to check out this post by @zord189 as well.
Twitter Promotion
I’m picking up the Twitter promo again. Haven’t done it in quite some time, but started building the Hive list with Hive members again. It is far from as extensive as my previous community list, but I will start adding Hive members daily from now on. You can view the list here. Shoutout to @stellabelle (another member of the ‘mustfollowonhive’ list) for the support!
That’s it for now, hope you find this information useful. Feel free to leave a comment, wether it is a question or something I missed (because I still missed a lot).