SAN FRANCISCO, 11/30 – It is the platform everyone is talking about at the moment. Like other social networks like Mastodon, the relatively young Hive Social is using the chaos that has surrounded Twitter since it was bought by Elon Musk to expand its ranks. Can Hive Social become a serious alternative to the little blue bird’s network?
After Twitter’s bird, it’s now the turn of Hive Social’s bees to make a splash. The platform, which is still relatively under the radar, announced on November 21 that it had reached one million users. Since then, the site has continued to grow to two million subscribers, and their number is growing by the day. according to a news week Article dated November 22, some users were even unable to create an account on Hive Social because the email verification rate was set at 100,000 users per day. The network reported that it added 250,000 more followers that day.
The application, launched in 2019, has rocketed the charts of the most downloaded applications in the social network category for both Android and Apple in many countries. Hive Social even ranked as the most popular free app in the US App Store.
However, this success has to be put into perspective, for example in comparison to the colossus that Twitter has become since its launch in 2006. Twitter has 237.8 million monthly active users.
How does Hive Social work?
A hybrid of Instagram and Twitter, the Hive social platform allows users to post messages and share photos and videos that appear on your profile as a grid of posts similar to how they appear on the Meta social network. The big difference highlighted by the platform is that the timeline allows users to view content in the order it was published. Something that has been requested by Instagram users for a long time. This also motivated founder Kassandra “Raluca” Pop to teach herself to code in order to launch her own platform. Frustrated at being subservient to the algorithm of social networks without being able to use it to her advantage as a micro-influencer, the 23-year-old wanted to create her own platform without being drowned in advertising.
In addition to the ability to post GIFs and polls, the social network allows users to choose music and the color of their profile’s interface – currently exclusive to the iOS app. When it comes to inclusivity policies, Hive Social also allows users to display their pronouns and zodiac signs. Little extras that Generation Z loves.
Note that profile music selections will be counted on Apple Music and will soon also be counted on Spotify to provide financial compensation. Users can choose one song for free and pay 99 cents to add two more songs.
As with Twitter, Hive users can pay to subscribe to a creator’s feed to gain access to exclusive content. Users can also receive gifts that can be converted into cash once they reach a minimum amount that has not been disclosed.
After creating an account, the platform asks users to select three categories from about 30 topics to customize the content for their profile, which is displayed in the “Discover” tab.
One of the biggest differences compared to Instagram and Twitter is their nudity policy. Hive allows such content as long as you mark your post as “NSFW” or “Not Safe For Work,” which indicates either sexual or violent content.
Moderation seems to be one of the most important points when applying. Kassandra “Raluca” Pop, the founder, said in an interview with Newsweek that the team that manages the social network consists of just three people. The app doesn’t yet offer two-factor authentication, a system that restricts account hackers.
Despite the excitement surrounding this new social network, Elon Musk doesn’t appear to be too worried about the competition just yet. The billionaire responded by commenting, “lmao” to the tweet, “What the heck is Hive, weren’t we all hot for Mastodon like two seconds ago?”
For Pop, Twitter shouldn’t be the only network worried about Hive’s success. “I don’t think it’s a direct competitor to specific social media,” Pop said. “I know we’ve been labeled as either an Instagram or Twitter alternative, but I would generally consider it a competitor in the social media space. We’re just establishing our brand and making it our own,” she said in an interview with Newsweek. ― ETX Studio
