I am so excited. This is the easiest blog that I've written on Hive. I just sat down and let my feelings go. After 3 hours straight, I almost got everything I want to cover. Then I just need to spend some time later to check my English grammar and create some nice photos for it. I think Hive inspires me a lot.
On my first week and second week on Hive, I made weekly progress posts to share with you about what I was doing and how my progress was. Then, I could use them to share with my non-Hiver friends. However, I got lost in many things and couldn't keep up with my initial plan.
That said this writing contest is a great one for me to participate in as I would love to share my experiences on Hive. My Hive journey is divided into three parts: Before joining Hive, until now and what I want to do next. So if you already read my introduction post, you can jump straight to part 2 & part 3.
Before joining Hive: Two times saying NO until a YES
I talked about this in my Introduction post but I think it is a really important part of my journey to create @dora381 on Hive. So let's have a quick skim through again.
My dear friend @trangbaby introduced me to Hive in early 2021. I could tell she is a big fan of it by the way she talked and her stories she shared on Facebook. I was curious and immediately activating Dora searching mode. I went online and searched for more information about Hive. However, it was difficult for a person with zero knowledge about blockchains to find info about it, even though I am good at digging information on the internet. Because I couldn't find anything to convince me to join, I called it off for the first time.
However, Trang hasn't gave up on me yet. She approached me again with more information and articles about Hive (Thank you so much for believing in me, girl). I then activated my search mode again. I believe with my great experience (oh btw I am Dora the explorer Dora), I could find more evidence to convince myself this is a good platform. Whether it is legitimate, trusted and what their profit model is.
Unfortunately this time, I got confused with Hive, Ecency and PeakD? I thought it's inconsistency so probably not worth to try. Together with the fact that it is relating with Cryptocurrency - Red warning alert. I believe mining cryptocurrency takes a lot of computer power because of the proof of work algorithm so it is super bad for the environment (I didn't know that Hive use Proof of stakes instead). So this was my second time saying No to Hive.
Thankfully, Hive doesn't stop giving another chance. Several months later, while browsing on Facebook and I read a post from Trang again about Hive. I checked out her post and I could tell she changed a lot, in a positive way. Not my girl when I met her 2 years ago. That was when I wondered what it is with this platform that could make a significant impact to my friend.
At the same time, I had been thinking a lot about my life and I could see the same failure pattern that I was about to create. That was when I knew I had to chance. So voila on Sunday 29 August 2021, I officially become a part of Hive. Yay!!!
After Joining: Dora on the new adventure
I am an eager learner. After joining Hive, I am so excited about learning new things. I spent lots of my time exploring different sections for newbies and getting to know the platforms. I remember it was my fourth day when I kept dreaming about being on Hive. This was a signal to tell me to take things slow.
I stared following guidelines for newbies to do in the first week. I also scheduled my week wisely so I didn't get burned out from my excitement. I chose the days that I wanted to write. Then there were days that I didn't write anything just following my reading notes to learn more about Hive. And finally weekends were for engagement and planning my week.
Writing has never been my strong suit and I never blogged before. That's why I didn't know what to write at the beginning. I got recommendations about joining community contests. So I decided to participate in at least one community contest each week. This would help me to find the community I like, get to know new people and build engagement.
So far, the communities I like the most are @ladiesofhives, @haveyoubeenhere, the Weekend Engagement hosted by @galenkp and Appreciate beauty of nature with @phortun. I am amazed by the support and dedication of the @ladiesofhives admins. I notice they check every participant posts and left meaningful comments.
For @haveyoubeenhere, I love their cool pinmapple ideas and I want to see new places around the world. With the weekend engagement, I had so much fun participating in the topics and engage with others. I also learnt a lot from them as well. Last but not least the nature photo contest, it is a simple and great way for me to appreciate the beauty of nature around me.
Being on Hive for almost 2 months, I know it is not long enough to experience everything but I can certainly tell you that I am so happy to be a part of it. I feel overwhelmed by the support from other Hivers. They encourage me to talk and share things that I am still not confidence enough to talk in real life. With Hive, I don't have to wear masks, just purely be myself. This is a new part of my life journey and I love it.
Hive is created by friends for friends
I really like the idea of Hive as a social network that allows me to own my content, it’s uncensored, strict about plagiarism and I can get paid for socialising. Most importantly, Hive is created by friends for friends.
So in a way, I think Hive is a great channel for many different type of users. Those who don’t have an opportunity to travel around the world but are curious to see what’s out there, Hive is an awesome place to be. Those who want to improve their writing - especially in English - they should join Hive. Anyone want to be in an environment where they get great support and encouragement, Hive is a good start. And the list goes on...
I have a couple of friends that I would love to introduce them to Hive and I know for sure they will love Hive as I do because we share a lot in common. They are open-minded and excited to learn new things, they just need a push to the right direction and they will fly.
I know we have a community designed specially for @newbies which is great for new members but what I struggled the most was at my first step: joining Hive. I think it is normal for human to reluctant or suspicious when hearing about something completely news.
That's why I want to focus on the very first step: how to talk about Hive to my friends to help them avoiding wasting time in confusion like me. I mean I wasted at least 5 months to make the move. So I want to make it as smooth as possible for them.
And this is where I can apply my knowledge on onboarding new customers into practice. Each of my friends will have their own personal values and special needs so I have to tailor what kind of information to give them when I introduce Hive so they feel curious to explore things and at the time feeling trusted and be encouraged to step out of their comfort zones.
For example, those who want to improve their writing and English, I will focus on the benefits of joining a community with great support from other Hivers so they can feel safe and trusted to start their experience. There are many good resources to learn and by blogging regularly, they will improve just like me. Over one month ago, I was afraid of replying to comments from other Hivers. Now, I am totally fine with it.
Anyone who dislike what big tech companies are doing, they will be excited to learn about what Hive is doing differently with them. So this is one of the valuable benefits to talk with them.
Another thing is gaining rewards for their posts on Hive. This is brilliant but I need to be careful to introduce it as it will involve in many question marks: where the money come from? why they have to pay in 3 different currencies? do you really got the money or it is just a big pyramid scheme where you get money by introducing us.
I am so excited about the opportunity to bring my friends on Hive. And best of all, I can apply my knowledge to help them. I love being on Hive and contribute to the growth of Hive. In some way, I am building Hive and adding to the values of Hive for my friends.
Thank you so much my dear Hive friends for your huge support and encouragement for the last couple of months. I want you to know that it is appreciated. Cheers, Dora.
P/S: All photos in this post are mine and they are designed with Canva.