Beyond Utility: The Missing Link in Hive's Path to Success

I found out about Google because I needed it. There was no ad on TV or any other mainstream social media network for Google as a search engine. The need was simply there, and although Google at first didn't have its dedicated web browser that would make it the default searching engine, other browsers such as Internet Explorer did that so they increase their utility.

The same applies to Telegram, WhatsApp, Grammarly, and other utility apps and services that don't really need any marketing or advertising for attracting users and increasing "their data base". As @taskmaster4450 says, the utility can be Hive's most efficient way to leverage marketing strategy in attracting more users.

However, Hive blockchain is already a three years old blockchain, a fork of Steem, which aimed at achieving pretty much the same thing Hive is driving for, and we still don't see any sign of mass adoption for Hive. I talk about my blog and this blockchain as often as I can, but onboarding, if you ask me, is still over the hand for many of the noobs still trapped in WEB2 out there.

@leofinance "promises" to bring in 10,000 new users with its DHF approved proposal, and knowing Leofinance and @khaleelkazi for a few good years already, I believe my favorite Hive community will deliver, but 10,000 new users is not much. Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter have billions of users combined.

I know, Hive probably doesn't even need that much exposure, but at least we can try getting to something like 5% of the current user base of Facebook, for example. That would be something. Hive is a working product, one of the few utility blockchains out there that has literally changed lives for the better and has laid down the foundation for a new type of social media, a decentralized, censorship-resistant platform.

So, what went wrong?

Why isn't Hive a top social media platform (blockchain) three years after it went live? Well, the first thing to start with would be the lack of mainstream awareness. You can have the best working product in the world, but if the world doesn't know about you, you're gonna be sitting with that great product in your yard with no buyer for it.

But wait, isn't utility supposed to bring new users? It is, but knowing how complacent and lazy WEB2 users are, my take is that we have to push them towards Hive, incentivize them to at least give it a try, and first and foremost they have to somehow find out about Hive from somewhere. Yesterday in an exchange of comments with @stayoutoftherz on a post of @gadrian, @stayoutoftherz while mentioning marketing at some point in regards to Hive's poor mainstream exposure, he brought "The Freechain" movie that is a DHF funded movie about Hive scheduled to go live probably this year or the next one.

From what I know, the movie will have many personalities of Hive interviewed and will somehow paint a picture of what Hive is for whoever doesn't have the time and patience to do the patience by getting in contact first hand with the blockchain. But, is this movie gonna be sent to Netflix? Is it going to hit any relevant TV channel? Will we have it distributed all over WEB2 social media platforms?

Hopefully yes, because that's where we should expect a flock of new users coming in. You gotta take them out of the garbage (WEB2) and get them to our WEB3 oasis. If the movie doesn't go mainstream, then its purpose as a marketing tool will simply fade away. My hopes are it will have the expected impact.

So, what else is stopping Hive from getting mainstream? I'd say user interfaces are a hit too in this regard. None are even close to what a 2023 social media user interface should look and feel like. I know I'm going to take a lot of hate from you guys for saying this one, but I'm an open motherfucker, and that's how I feel when I use any of the UI Hive currently has. They all look outdated...

Moreover, plebs still living their lives in the WEB2 prison aren't too inclined in switching to WEB3 such as Hive because "mommy and daddy" are on Facebook, and they're not technical enough to be able to transit, and the whole audience that some of the influencers have on WEB platforms might be lost if the influencers decide to make the transition. Even the ones who know about Hive and pretend to be advocates of decentralized blockchain technology don't actually quit their false lives they have on WEB2 and start a new one on Hive.

So what's the plan, amirite? I'd say a bit of polishing on the UIs and a more easy-to-use onboarding method adopted for all interfaces, something like what Leofinance has and is working on for attracting these 10,000 new users that Khal is bragging about, coupled with some proper marketing (Twitter ads, paid shills, mainstream crypto outlet articles, YouTube interviews, etc.) would make such a difference for Hive's user base growth.

I'm not saying utility is bad as a marketing strategy, but it is definitely slower than traditional advertising methods. What do you think?

Thanks for your attention,
Adrian