Hive has similar functionality to Twitter
(Picture: Hive)Hive is the latest social network to benefit from the turmoil at Twitter. About three years after it emerged on the scene, the app claims to have amassed one million users and is sitting at the top of the iPhone App Store’s social network chart, indicating that it has seen a rise in downloads.
The surge in interest comes as Twitter users are threatening to abandon the service just weeks after Elon Musk’s takeover of the company. Since then, the outspoken billionaire has laid off half its workforce, including top executivess, and reinstated banned users such as former president Donald Trump.
While there are plenty of alternatives to Twitter, it can’t hurt that Hive arguably comes closest to replicating the troubled social network’s functionality.
You can follow topics like tech and movies; share text, images, GIFs and even polls; click on hashtags to discover similar content; and restrict who can comment on your posts. Users can also like, comment and re-share posts as is the norm on many social networks.
But it’s not just Twitter Hive is emulating. Borrowing from the Instagram Explore page, Hive features a photo grid related to the topics you’re following. And it gets old-school with a feature plucked straight from MySpace: The option to add a song to your profile page by connecting your Spotify or Apple Music account. There are also some new elements sprinkled in, such as the ability to display your zodiac sign on your profile.
Though it lets you tag posts as NSFW (not safe for work), this does not appear to be Hive’s take on OnlyFans. The platform says it does not permit nude images on its app, though nudity in photos of paintings and sculptures is allowed.
1,000,000 Besties and the number keeps climbing! 🫶🌈🔥Thank you to everyone who has followed us, joined, shared their Hive posts and profiles, invested in our WeFunder, and overall just given us such an incredible amount of support! 🥹🐝💛 pic.twitter.com/3IOliTf647
— Hive (@TheHIVE_Social) November 21, 2022
Distancing itself from other social networks, Hive has opted to ignore personalisation algorithms that surface recommended content based on your browsing history. Instead, it features a chronological feed, according to TechCrunch, and doesn’t monetise using ads. In order to generate revenue, Hive lets users pay to unlock additional music tracks for their profile.
Hive is the brainchild of 22-year-old Kassandra Pop, who also reportedly manages the platform’s Twitter account. But, it’s on TikTok that it has gained the most eyeballs, with the video-sharing app’s Gen Z users previously hyping it up last year as an Instagram altenative.
