When you look from the outside, Hive appears to be a tiny player in a tiny industry called crypto.

Lol, Hive is visible from the outside?

I've been on Hive since 2016, when it was Steem. I found it while looking for a facebook alt, for all the reasons everyone hates Facebook, but particularly for their arbitrary banning policy. I joined because I had been watching BTC for about 3 years and knew there was something to crypto, in general, but the concept of using it as a reward system for social media was too revolutionary to dismiss out of hand, so I started dipping in and trying it out.

I didn't really make any money, or come up with any amazing ideas to take advantage so I found it difficult to hang out here in the beginning.

Then I found Splinterlands (Steem Monsters at the time), and it further drove the point home of what a crypto reward system for daily activities could do, so I was hooked.

Daily, I use peakd, hive-engine, beeswap, peakmonsters, Splinterlands, of course, dCrops, and I'm trying to spend more time in the Leo-verse, but I don't have much to contribute here, so I'm still a tourist.

Simply put, I keep coming back because I'm invested. Not just financially, but in the belief this tech really is a key component in some of the major changes that are unfolding before humanity's eyes.

Speaking of invested... Hive is where I learned how to invest. I was dabbling with BTC, but I knew nothing of markets, investing, ROI, APR/APY, or even how networks work, really, before I dove in here and began seeing how it all interconnects.

Honestly, it may be a bit dramatic, but Hive is my home, office, church university, and nightclub. Whatever I'm in the mood for I can find here, so why borrow an account from facebook to get slapped in the face with someone else's curated garbage.

I own my Hive account, decide what makes it on to my feed, and get paid for my participation. Nothing else comes close, and that's just the social media factor. I bank here, too. Would you trust facebook with your money? I should hope not.