Even if you're a casual user of Steem and not much into the politics, tech, or news of the community; I'm sure it's been difficult to not see some of the drama that's enveloped our little corner of the blockchain and social media world these past weeks.
It's been a roller coaster of emotion for sure. At the news of Justin Sun/Tron acquiring Steemit Inc. I was filled with a mixture of apprehension and optimism for the future. Now, I'm right back to that starting point, filled with apprehension and optimism; only now those hopes and fears aren't for Steem, they're for Hive.
In the past weeks the one thing that's changed for me is my opinion of Justin Sun and the new Steemit Inc. What started as ambivalence has now progressed to a fairly solid loathing. Today's actions wherein Steemit is removing posts announcing and discussing the Hive project from its frontend was the final straw.
I have zero desire to be a user metric for Justin Sun, and plan on ceasing all my activity on the Steem blockchain in favor of Hive. Everyone gets to choose their own path and participate in Steem, Hive, or both! I truly hope those Steemians I value and enjoy the most will all be on Hive with me.
The fun starts tomorrow at 10:00 AM Eastern time in the US! You can already begin using https://hive.blog/ using your existing Steem account credentials and the chain will switch over tomorrow. Most of the large front ends and applications will be making the switch to Hive as well, such as SteemPeak and eSteem (obviously both working on rebranding) so many of your tools and websites will very likely remain accessible to you.
It's fair to expect some technical issues! I'm hoping for a seamless transition, but preparing for a bit of short term frustration. Anyone who has been through a major hard fork in the past can relate!
As soon as possible though, I plan on hitting the Hive running... with an enthusiasm I haven't been able to muster for Steem as of late.
If you have any questions about Hive, please ask below. I will check in with this post for a short while after the fork to help anyone with the transition that I can. For those planning on staying with Steem for now, I wish you the best and hope we'll cross paths again, and for those excited about Hive... I'll see you in the colony!
I've been on Steem for almost 4 years now, and don't regret a moment of it. It's bittersweet to think that this is probably my last full post on the Steem blockchain. However I'm eager to move forward, and am as excited as ever by the prospect and promise of an ownerless decentralized online system which Steem first enamored me with. Steem will always hold a special place in my heart as the incubator that started it all, but it's clear to me that its potential can only be fulfilled through Hive, and not Tron.
I'm struggling to find something epically moving and emotional to say at this moment... and hell, I guess that just wouldn't be my style anyway. So I'll leave it at this...
-Bryan "the Imp" Imhoff
