Hive Social has rocketed to the top of the App Store as people flock to the social media platform looking for a Twitter replacement. Elon Musk’s chaotic takeover of Twitter has users looking for alternatives, with Mastadon and Cohost touted as potential alternatives. All of a sudden, Hive Social emerged as an exciting new candidate, but what is it?
What is Hive Social?
Known as Hive, it’s an app developed by two college students in the US – a familiar social media origin story. A direct response to the algorithm-driven feeds of other platforms, it presents content in chronological order. Although it originally launched in 2019, Hive Social recently exploded in popularity following Twitter’s uncertain future. Available on iOS devices through the App Store, it’s also in beta access on Android.
Featuring a vibrant, colourful aesthetic, the emerging social media app has a familiar yet different user experience. You can share photos and text-only posts, search trending topics, plus make comments and send messages just like other apps. Additional features include asking people questions they can answer on their feed, and the ability to link to Spotify or Apple Music to play music when others visit your profile. It’s all about the vibes, after all.
Hive recently surpassed a million users, so it’s still a relatively small fry in the social media landscape. However, through angel investors and a crowdfunding campaign, there’s a big push to address common complaints about the likes of TikTok, Instagram, and Twitter in Hive’s design.
Is it worth leaving Twitter for?
It’s still early days, but Hive seems like a chill way of seeing content from people you actually follow, instead of what an ever-changing algorithm decides for you. While an influx of populate the latest craze, there are sure to be growing pains while the developers scale larger.
So far, it doesn’t revolutionise the social media experience. Instead, Hive adopts features that work well elsewhere into one relatively cohesive platform. It doesn’t require joining specific servers like Mastadon and looks slicker than Cohost’s minimalist design. One downside is that there’s currently no browser access, so you can’t access the platform via desktop, only through the mobile app.
Above all else, on the surface, the developers appear to support a positive social media experience. Anyone who’s spent time on Twitter knows it’s prone to negativity and nasty behaviour. Which, of course, is something many major social media platforms struggle with.
If you want an alternative to Twitter that omits the ads and algorithms, Hive might be exactly what you’re looking for. There’s a long way to go regarding how it transforms following the recent influx of users, but the early signs are promising. We saw a similar movement to BeReal after Instagram pivoted to its Reels video strategy, so whether the Hive enthusiasm continues remains to be seen.
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