I am just about 3 weeks old on Hive (formerly steem) so let me start with sharing how I got into hive.
At very first I decided to check what 
But I got curious. There were many good things that are impossible on ethereum (which I am familiar with) so one evening I requested keys and logged into my account. And I read first post… it was this one
by 
I had no Idea that I arrived on battlefield or who are witnesses or what’s going on with hostile takeover attempt so I am sure you can imagine my confusion. That would, under normal circumstances make me leave thinking it is some crap, but I was impressed by parts of technology I seen so far and very curious, so I started reading more. Dawn came, I kept reading. Then there was another dusk…
Let’s fast forward few weeks and wow moments…
Hive is technological forge, where wonders of tomorrow are created.
It is also social media done right. Great community full of intelligent people (and I don’t say this lightly – there is some real brainpower) that are also very friendly and helpful. Well that does not apply to one psychopath who voted in 20 sock puppets ofc, but on other hand he played major role in uniting community and made it stronger.
Hive is also a beacon of free speech and free thought. Free speech is widely known issue in current day and age so there is no need to elaborate. Free thought on other hand is rarely spoken about, is under attack and is necessary for free speech. Hive got it covered – there are no forced indoctrinations here. Decentralization and freedom are strong values here.
What will hive evolve into? Let me point out word evolve – that’s amazing in contrast with most thing being stagnant and then suddenly some revolution. Hive is and will be evolving.
I can easily see hive as bustling hub of trade, games, arts and THE new social medium. And also major cryptocurrency. Neither tomorrow, nor in some distant future. It will be sooner than most people think.
DAO will help with that for sure – it is good to have funds to support hive development. I have a bit of fear too because it is stake that caused JS problems so we must be very vigilant and measure not twice or thrice but at least five times. It is a lot of money so if used wisely it can do wonderful things. I also like model of voluntary contributions rather than “tax” on newly minted currency.
How I see myself within hive? First I still need to learn. A lot! Reinventing the wheel hard way wouldn’t be very useful, but I hope and plan (hope because I hope it will happen and plan because I am taking steps towards it) to contribute towards technology & community in future. I am still a newbie, but everyone started there…
Thank you for reading and I would also like to thank developers for making hive possible.