For those who do not get the reference Numberwang was a spoof gameshow on a UK comedy show.

Despite the ups and downs in the crypto markets, Hive hold promise and I'm happy about that. Building awareness seems like the best thing to do right now. maybe I might try linking Hive posts elsewhere, perhaps that could help. Thanks for these insights Steve

I had a discussion with @xplosive who feels that a lot of posts do not get much attention. I said that we do have to work on getting followers as Hive does not do that algorithmically. If you are posting in a community then be sure to comment on posts by others to encourage them. Communities ought to be about sharing opinions and tips on shared interests and not just trying to get votes. Use them as you would groups on other platforms that do not reward you. Hive is lacking in users and we need to at least retain those we have by making it fun.

I use Hive exactly as other platforms. Naturally. Nowadays I rarely comment under other people's posts (only if I actually care), but if I receive comments under my own posts, then I always reply to them (this happens usually in Facebook groups, rarely on Hive, because I rarely receive comments on the Hive blockchain). I spend very little time online. I prefer natural usage. No contests, no challenges, no force.

Hive is not lacking in users. There are many users. The problem is that 99% of them are only posting. Hard to receive comments on Hive, even with unique content, and with post promotion. People usually comment only if we comment under their posts.

But unique content stands out on its own on a properly working social network. Where people actually care about the content. They naturally write comments, because they actually care.

For example I post in a relatively small private Facebook group, which has only 1200 members, and usually I receive more than 10 comments under my posts. My last post currently has 28 comments. They write helpful tips, they ask how the things are going, if I have help, etc. If I ask a question, then they helpfully answer it. Sometimes some of them even write private messages too to me.

I also post in the Feathered Friends Facebook "community", which currently has 3548 members, and usually I receive 0 comments. My posts has visibility, but people simply do not really care.

I have the same experience with a different topic too.

For example two way radioamateur contacts. I uploaded videos to 3Speak (ThreeSpeak). The videos received upvotes, but the actual video views were only a little fraction of the upvotes.

I wrote blog posts too about. Mostly I had the same experience, as with the previously mentioned topic.

Two topics, both unique, yet there are literally no real audience for neither. There are no content consumers. The content is not only not standing out, but there is an almost complete lack of interest from the users in the content whatsoever. People see them. They just do not care.

Seeing this, probably it is understandable that I rather prefer Facebook groups, where people actually care. As I wrote above, I spend very little time online, and it is much better to post on a platform, where people actually care.

Thanks for spreading the word about @worldmappin. I guess we'll meet at Hive Fest then :)

The market is making a lot of people feel down but I’m sure Hive will thrive!

Hive has some interesting challenges, not least of which is the (often overlooked) fact that for a lot of Hive members, this is their first and only social media experience.

If the majority of Hiveans were active social media users with hundreds of Facebook friends and thousands of twitter/Insta followers we'd be looking at a very different landscape.

I also think Raymond is onto something with his latest Brofund proposal. Hive tends to be very self contained. On the plus side (if you're a developer) you get a built in audience. On the minus side, that means the need to go out and market your dApp to the world is reduced. Meanwhile, we grow more and more isolated... the same core group of people cheering on the same core group of people.

Perhaps we need to change the approach... instead of a "come to Hive because we're amazing" message, we need more informative publicity. YouTube/Insta/TikTok whatever... that are just "here's something you can do on Hive," more like public service announcements. And then those have to be about things people externally care about. Decentralization? Nobody cares. Blockchain? Nobody cares. Governance? Nobody cares. Privacy? Can't be deplatformed? Authentic content ownership? Earn rewards for being social? Now we're getting warm...

I'm going through the rather laborious process of updating my external web properties and social media presences at the moment (it'll take months) expressly with the purpose of being able to integrate Hive content into them. I'm not going to market "Hive" there, but I'm going to create content on Hive that's for "global consumption," and will (for example) go in front of a fair number of eyeballs for whom it is of specific relevance... even in its run down state, one of my psychology blogs still pulls about 3,000+ MAUs.

Otherwise, my experience is much like @xplosive's in that I get a LOT more attention and engagement in Facebook groups than here.

It's definitely a "code" we need to crack... and the African and South American communities are doing a FAR better job of it than the rest of us!

It will all come back eventually I am sure. We are just getting started with this run they say.

It is annoying that lots of links point to st___it. I often can't find some of my posts on hive and have to search through the old site and update the link to find the hive post.

Still, we plough on!

Greetings @steevc ,

Thank you for the Follow Friday post....very interesting.

As a returning user..I can agree with your points about Hive.

Time will tell.

Cheers!