Following Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter, users have been fleeing to other social apps like open-source microblogging platform Mastodon and useful communities like CounterSocial. Now, another social app called Hive is seeing a surge in signups in response to the violence on Twitter. The app is currently in the top 20 on the US App Store today, with trending on Twitter slowing after seeing a surge in interest over the weekend.
In the year Founded in 2019 by then-22-year-old Cassandra Pope, Hive is not a live Twitter clone. Instead, the Gen Z-focused social app, described in a Teen Vogue profile last year, combines concepts from various social networks, including Instagram and Twitter and MySpace — the latter thanks to a feature that lets handset users add music. Their profiles, among other things.
The app isn’t just timeline-based like Twitter. In addition to the main feed, Hive users can explore their interests in various communities such as science, tech, cars, music, fashion, pets, crafts, books, travel, gaming, art, food and many more. . Here, users can like, comment and repost shared content similar to other social networks, as well as click on hashtags to dive deeper.
In some ways, Hive may be more comfortable for old Twitter users to find a new home because the app has a simple and familiar set of navigation options — there are tabs to view the main timeline or feed, a “discovery” section. A social network, a tab to access your profile and another for your notifications eg. In the middle is a button to create a new post.
Hive uses a follower-based model similar to Twitter, as opposed to the mutual friend model you find on a network like Facebook.
However, unlike most social networks, Hive supports personalization algorithms for chronological feeding and does not monetize using ads. Instead, Hive offers users the ability to pay to unlock more slots that allow them to feature more of their favorite music on their profiles. These range from $0.99 for a second slot to $1.99 for a third or fourth, the app’s App Store listing suggests.
In the weeks leading up to Musk’s acquisition of Twitter and in the days since, the handset has become increasingly popular. According to data from app intelligence firm Sensor Tower, 214,000 of Hive’s total 733,000 lifetime installs came on iOS and Android in the last 30 days alone. Of note, the handset seems to have caught the attention of those outside the US — non-US installs accounted for 86 percent of the handset’s total downloads, according to Sensor Tower.
Image Credits: Hive
The app saw another surge in registrations starting Friday and continuing through the weekend.
Perhaps not coincidentally, this was around the same time Musk decided to welcome former President Donald Trump to Twitter by opening his account. While Trump has yet to tweet that he’d prefer his own app, Musk’s move appears to be enough to encourage many Twitter users to look for alternatives as they consider jumping ship.
According to Sensor Tower data, Hive has received around 144,000 new installs in the last few days (Friday November 18 to Sunday November 20, 2022). About 22,000 of those downloads were from the US alone, he says. This time the app rose from number 338 of the total iPhone apps on the US App Store to number 17 today. And this time it is the number 3 app in the social networking category.
According to posts on Hive’s TikTok, the app took off over the weekend, with another 80,000 people signing up to watch it. From the morning Hive’s Twitter account reported The app now has a total of “nearly 900,000” registered users. (This number doesn’t exactly match Sensor Tower’s download estimates, but third-party data isn’t an exact science.)
@officialhivesocial How do you lose 44 billion in one month? Anyway, join HIV, link in bio
This weekend isn’t the first time the handset has seen new users. The app saw a brief spike in downloads in February 2021, with 439,000 new downloads, 64% of which came from the US, according to Sensor Tower data. The increase was due to the founder’s decision to pay for TikTok influencer videos and resulted in nearly 250,000 downloads in just a few days, she said at the time.
Hive’s appeal is not only due to its integration of social networking concepts or ease of use compared to subscribing to Mastodon, but also to the confusion of users who don’t understand how to choose a server or what “fediverse” is. ” means. Like BeReal, Gen Z seems to be more drawn to new social networks run by indie founders that aren’t started by big tech brands.
The app has previously been seen raising money on WeFunder, but has not made any official fundraising announcements. (The app at hivesocial.app is not to be confused with the old Hive Social app, previously hosted at hivesocial.com and promoted by “The Bachelorette” contestant Peter Krause.)
Hive has not yet responded to requests for comment.
