We're nearing one week on Hive. Those who have followed me over the last couple of years will see mostly complaints. This is the first time in a long time, I'm feeling neutral - optimism is still a ways away though. After being through disappointment after disappointment endlessly in a downward spiral since 2017, I really was skeptical the community will rally together and make this happen. But they have, and it's been very pleasantly surprising.
I spent a lot of time on Steem in 2016. Indeed, at one point I was among the top 5 most active members on the blockchain. I gradually slowed down over time, and by early 2018, I was a mostly inactive Steemian. I divested off STEEM over the course of 2018 - having made the terrible mistake of being all powered up during the euphoric altcoin rally. But I was never really gone, I would still pop up from time to time, just to remind how terrible Steem was and how improvements were desperately needed. I would have my phases, probably during phases when morale was at an all time low, where I'd show up and make a few blog posts, but by and large, that was it for me. I took my social activity to other platforms which were actually... social. I really wanted to be on Steem, but it just wasn't any good.
What has changed with Hive? It still is a terrible platform, just as terrible as Steem was before it. But the shadow of the Steemit Inc ninja mine has finally been lifted. That improves the tokenomics right away. I've been impressed with Blocktrades' work on SPS, so I'm cautiously optimistic development will be improved over Steemit Inc. There's a long, long way to go, and it remains to be seen if development does improve, of course.
Right now, I'm enjoying blogging again, but engagement is very minimal at this time, so it's not really rewarding. At least while the lockdown lasts, I remain committed to Hive and contributing with content and curation, but without solid improvements, I'd probably lose interest once again over time and move to better platforms.
So, I'd like to see the complete and radical overhaul I have been calling for for the last few years. I'm patient, I know it will take several years to make Hive a bonafide social platform, but I'd like to see steady progress over the coming months.
In a nutshell, Hive, for me is - unfinished business. Whether I get to finish what started four years ago, remains to be seen.
Short note about the price - I wouldn't pay much attention to it. I'd expect it to remain inflated in the short term while liquidity is very limited and a lot of people are migrating (powering up) from Steem. The tokenomics are still degenerative, and over the long term Hive will continue to lose value versus BTC (save for the short altcoin pumps and dumps) until the economics are improved. I've talked about this a hundred times, so I'll cut it here.