On birthdays, I have a habit of trying to look back, to sum up, impressions of who I am, and to look forward. Today, on this occasion, the third anniversary of Hive, I'll try to do something like that.
I don't want to dwell too much on history, but a little bit is still necessary. I've never written an introductory post either, so this isn't it :) 馃榿
Basically, I registered my first website and domain in 1998. Ever since then, I have had in mind the desire to use these Internet technologies to free myself from this slavery we are forced into. For a while, about five years, I was doing very well, mainly thanks to AdSense, but at one point Google had had enough of me and deleted me without explanation. Since then, it has only gone downhill with other ad providers.
I started blogging there around 2010 and fell into scams like FanBox and then Empowr and then TSU. Well, TSU went out of business, at least they were honest enough to self-destruct after admitting that their business model was a failure and that they couldn't fund it anymore. And that's where I found out about Steemit (kudos to 
source: Pixabay and Hive Brand Assets
I mean, I only followed it for about a year because I didn't really understand these blockchain technologies (because even now I don't fully understand them, there's too much of that 馃槑) but somehow I got hope that I could achieve my wish of 20 years ago to go independent maybe.
And then Justin Sun fucked it all up :(
Actually, as I reflect on the 3rd anniversary now, he (I mean us, Hive members, of course) basically helped us to clear up all the negativity and bad sides of Steemit sooner than we would have otherwise.
And I hope you don't misunderstand me.
This is one short Hive video I made for the first (virtual) HiveFest.
馃殌 馃槑 馃殌
@theycallmedan mentioned, we have a special day for Hive PowerUp and I've been sticking to it almost regularly for the last two years.
source: HiveBuzz
Why Power Up is a clear and known fact, you can read in my last HPUD post, I would also follow the old Slovenian expression - If you love yourself you love others too, or in other words, if you increase your Hive Power you also increase the power of the whole network and everything you do in the Hive has more weight!
馃殌 馃槑 馃殌
As for the future of Hive. Well, I'm not a fortuneteller, not even as naive as I was twenty years ago, the crypto scene and the world, in general, seems to me to be in a kind of chaotic atmosphere and Hive could also collapse if/when the business model is no longer sustainable, but that doesn't seem to be the case now.
What I see is this:
Hive is an excellent and mature Web3 development platform, because it has everything the "Big Blockchains" have, plus fast and free transactions, and the ecosystem is quite broad. Layer 2 services can be integrated relatively quickly, much faster than on other blockchains, and this is key for me, to build on existing services and develop new ones.
Hive is, at least in my opinion, self-sufficient and doesn't need a lot of new users who will spend a year learning how to work it or scammers who want to make a quick buck. It needs a slow and steady flow of new users, preferably from other blockchains because some of them are already familiar with the technology, it needs new games, integrations with other blockchains, and a constant increase in scalability. I wouldn't even mention decentralization and DAOs, because no one is as far away as Hive it seems to me.
I would also mention AI because we need to be aware that change, divergence, or whatever it's called, is going to happen very quickly, AI is going to take over a lot of services and add new ones, and we mustn't allow ourselves to become Luddites, but we'll have to use this tool for the sake of Hive, decentralization, and security.
Of course, we can continue to discuss all this in the comments.
And, what's my favorite music to listen to for birthdays, asked 
Thank you for your attention!
馃殌 馃槑 馃殌
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