This year, I really had a lot of hope to connect with more Hive people. Unfortunately it hasn't gone as well as I envisioned. I would think I would have had at least 10-20 hive friends by now. But I think that the nature of the platform doesn't allow people to communicate as much and as long as a regular social network.
There is no space to 'call' or 'chat' with others directly, there actually are, but not used as much. The Ecency DM and Chatrooms are available, but, very empty.