This may not be a popular topic, but let's talk. I love Hive, but it has an identity issue. Hive might know who it is, but others necessarily don't. Simply put, there are too many Hives and the count is growing. Sybil had 16 personalities. How high can the list-of-Hives go?
Even excluding the non-technology-based hives, and only staying within the area of tech, there are too many Hives. I long for distinction.
Let me say this, so no one thinks I'm calling to burn it down: I love Hive and love the name's connotation and the Hive logo's clean simplicity and all of that. But, purely as a brand, I see Hive as weak when it comes to distinction.
What to do?
Options
Option 1 - do nothing
Do nothing is always an option and one often overlooked. After fighting through the Steem debacle, why should we change a freaking thing? We know who we are. We're okay with who we are. If others have a problem, that's on them. We stand.
We could care less what others do or don't do. We do our thing, they do theirs. It works. Having a stubborn streak myself, this is my default position.
We keep Hive as it is.
Option 2 - rebrand entirely
Distinction is a good thing. I consider those stupid pharmaceutical ads on TV. They all have nonsensical names. Off the top of my head: flonase, jardiance, ozempic. They all annoy me (and they usually have an oddly creepy animation to go along with them), but they work. They are unique and distinct.
What if...
What if Hive rebranded to a totally unique and distinct brand? I'll quickly ask AI to generate some options and see what pops up. Frankly, it doesn't matter the name much, just that it's unique and distinct. Below are prompts and results:
Prompt to ChatGPT: Generate some very unique names, one word only, for a technology organization that no other organization currently uses.
Results: Sure! Here are some unique and innovative names for a technology organization:
Nexalis
Innovara
Technova
Quantara
Synerion
Futurix
Voltrix
Cryptora
Zephyra
Aetheris
Prompt to Microsoft Copilot: Generate some very unique names, one word only, for a technology organization that no other organization currently uses.
Results: Certainly! Here are some distinctive one-word technology organization names:
ZyberTech
Quixotix
Vortexa
Nexova
Cognix
Infinium
Lumina
Veridix
XyloTech
Zenitha
None may particularly jump out and say, "This is the one!" However, I will say, one tends to gradually grow accustomed to names and brands. Maybe they even grow on you in time and you begin to like them. Or, maybe...it just becomes the brand. Again, it really doesn't matter much the name. What matters is that the name is unique and distinct...that it actually is the brand.
Since I'm a fan of Don Quixote (and the musical "Man of La Mancha"), I'll use Quixotix from above as an example.
For fun, I used Microsoft Copilot to generate a logo.
Prompt: Make a logo for an organization named "Quixotix".
Result:
A few more. Three of them conjure up QuickTime, remember that? (The fact that those Qs remind me of QuickTime from 25 years ago shows how powerfully branding works.)
Quixotix
And there it is, as an example. And again, the whole point is that the name and logo is less important than the distinction that it creates, the distinction that the brand is.
Shakespeare had Romeo ask, "What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet." He's saying that a name really doesn't matter. The rose is what it is, despite it's name. Same with Hive. But when "rose" means a hundred different things, there is confusion.
And Shakespeare had Polonius advise, "This above all: to thine own self be true,..." The advice is to know who you are and stay true to that. For Hive, I think we know who we are. Our brand is fine, but it would be good to have branding that uniquely reflects that.
In my view option 2 would have pluses and minuses:
+ Our blockchain would gain its own entirely unique identity. There would no longer be brand confusion.
+ Perhaps inject a sense of renewal. I think of the fork-to-Hive. The super-smart folks that built the infrastructure over from the legacy chain put in the heavy lifting, no doubt. They worked hard and fast, thank you. For we mortals, the changeover was really very little trouble. Yet, the fork was one of the best things that ever happened to Hive. It rallied the community and gave Hive a real sense of who and what we are. Perhaps following a Hive rebrand option could do the same, to a smaller degree.
+ Others?
- There may need to be some infrastructure work (not sure on this entirely).
- Any username, website, dapp, etc. with a "Hive" or Hive-type name would be orphaned. They could still be used, of course, but they might seem somewhat out of place or grow eventually be viewed as dated.
- Maybe worst of all, there could be unintended consequences. What if rebranding actually made the Hive brand even more confusing. At times, I've found myself having to explain, "Well, Hive is the blockchain that used to be Steem..." and maybe you've done the same. Adding a third brand to the mix might cause longer explanations and more confusion.
- Others?
Option 3 - build on Hive
What if Hive was to not shun the Hive name and brand, but to build on it instead to distinguished itself from others?
Essentially, what if Hive retained the "Hive" name, but tweaked it out into its own unique and distinct branding?
Examples of building on the Hive brand to distinguish it:
Prompt to ChatGPT: Take the Hive brand and generate names that build on it. Try to generate brand names that are unique and won't be confused with others.
Results: Creating unique and distinctive brand names that build on the "Hive" brand can involve combining the concept of a hive with various themes, industries, and ideas. Here are some suggestions:
HiveLuxe
TechHive
EcoHive
HiveFusion
HiveMingle
HiveHaven
HiveNectar
UrbanHive
HiveSphere
HiveNest
QuantumHive
HivePulse
HiveCraft
HiveRise
HiveVerse
HiveBloom
HivePeak
HiveBridge
HiveSpark
HiveNova
These names aim to maintain the core identity of "Hive" while adding unique elements to distinguish them in various markets and industries.
Prompt to Microsoft Copilot: Take the Hive brand and generate names that build on it. Try to generate brand names that are unique and won't be confused with others.
Results: Certainly! Here are some unique and distinct brand name ideas inspired by the Hive concept:
HiveZen
HiveCraft
HiveHarbor
HiveSphere
HiveRoots
HiveBlend
HiveNest
HivePulse
HiveTrail
HiveBloom
Feel free to explore these options for your tech venture or any other creative project! 🐝🚀
Again, none of these scream out to me. The AI bots seemed to simply turn Hive into a compound word, like "HiveHarbor" (kind of my fave among the list). Rather, I was thinking of an invented word, like those annoying pharmaceutical ads. Just making one up off the top of my head, something like Hivexelum, as an example.
Again, for fun, I asked Microsof Copilot to make a logo.
Prompt: Make a clean and simple logo for a technology organization called Hivexelum.
Result:
Anyway, the point is illustrated: this option says to stay within the "Hive" genre, but distinguish it.
Pluses and minuses:
+ Hive becomes distinct from other hives.
+ The infrastructure wouldn't need to be altered, I believe. With the fork, there were codebases with many "steem" references embedded. They are now "hive" references. These could stay.
+ We could retain usernames, references, dapps, links, etc. that are Hive-centric. For example, something like the URL hiveblocks.com could still be used, or Sting chat, or d.buzz. All of these things would still be applicable to a Hive-made-unique brand.
+ Others?
- Though now a distinct Hive, this would not be as distinct and unique as with option 2, a total rename/rebrand.
- Possible unintended consequences of yet more brand confusion.
- Others?
Summary
How would Hive even change or tweak its brand? Can that even be done?
The answer to the second question seems easiest. Yes, it can be done...it was done in March 2020 with the Steem fork.
The answer to the first question, "How?", brings up the options.
Option 1 is to do nothing and keep Hive as it is.
Option 2 is a total rename/rebrand, going "whole hog."
Option 3 is a middle ground, a mix of keeping "Hive", but distinguishing it as unique.
In all honesty, I don't know which option I like myself. As I wrote at the start, I default to option 1. Screw 'em, we are who we are, keep it as is. Yet, the brand confusion persists. Of late, I've been sliding more and more toward option 3. Then, the little devil guy on my shoulder says, "You wuss! If you're going to do it, then do it! If you're gonna go fast, then go fast, not half-fast!" So, I don't know.
Thoughts?
I go by 
