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Hi there friends, TheRingMaster is back again with another Hive based blog. I thought about making a blog that would inform Hive users especially those new on this platform, the main difference between Hive and other social platforms they've probably already been on. For this blog I wanted to take Facebook since it was and still is the biggest social platform out there.

• I have so much to say, this might be my longest blog so far on Hive

You can consider this blog as part of your welcome messages to Hive if you're a newbie and if you're already an experienced long standing user, I would definitely love your feedback on this comparison blog.

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Why Make This Comparison

Just like I stated before, this particular blog seeks to teach newer users of the difference between Hive and other social platforms so they understand exactly what they're jumping into by becoming Hive users. However I would like to emphasize that it's not meant for just newbies because the information I'll be sharing will help every Hive user understand the value of this Blockchain and Web 3.0 in general.

HIVE and FACEBOOK

Hive and Facebook, to begin with are two platforms in two different generations of the internet. That alone should make you appreciate Hive a whole lot better. Facebook is clearly the bigger platform with over 3 billion users, I can't really say "Active Users" and for obvious reasons. However Facebook as a platform runs on Web 2.0 while Hive runs on Web 3.0. That difference alone should be enough for just about anyone to ditch Facebook for Hive because Web 3.0 is totally in your favor as a user.

In terms of scale they both have a big audience, though Hive is way less famous than Facebook. They are both major social media platforms today, which have brought many advantages to content creators worldwide. However, there is a clear difference between these two social media platforms. The preference for either Hive or Facebook would depend on multiple factors and needs of the user.

In this blog I'll share the differences between the two platforms and if you're an old Hive user, the effect of the blog would hopefully make you appreciate what Hive has brought to your lives and if you're a newbie, welcome to the new world.

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DIFFERENCE BETWEEN HIVE AND FACEBOOK

I'll be differentiating the two based on a number of points to allow everyone get the clear picture of how different these two platforms really are.

Centralization or Decentralization - Content Ownership

Freedom, that's a valuable thing isn't it? That's one thing today's popular social media platforms and Governments try to take from the people. The ability to say the truth and spread reality without any organization or government taking down your content online. That's what Hive brings which Facebook does not and will not give to you.

Facebook which is owned by the Meta Company is a centralized Web 2.0 social platform which means the final say and power to control data published on it belongs solely to the company and of course can easily be manipulated by the government. This means what you post on Facebook whether a picture, video or text is not fully your own.

If the content can be taken down at will or if algorithms can suppress the content from trending, then I ask, is it really your own? - The answer is NO

This is what Web 3.0 sought to change, by giving power of data to that one that created and published the data, the user himself or herself.

This is called "Decentralization" and most Hive users are already aware of that. It's easy to get used to such an advantage but whenever I'm making a blog and want to speak my mind and genuine opinion on specific matters without getting my content taken down by the platform, I really start to appreciate "Decentralization".

I remember creating a Facebook account that lasted for about 5 months. I worked so hard on that account posting great content and trying to make some friends but couldn't get as far as I've gotten on Hive in just 2 months.

It was the hardest thing I could ever do because I realized the algorithms of Facebook barely favored me. When growing your account on a centralized platform like Facebook, it's not really about the quality of your work, but what the algorithm wants to have. That means you are either going to allow yourself to be limited by your passion, or forget your passion and post what the algorithm will favor. That sounded like slavery to me though. Eventually I gave up on that but thank goodness I found Hive which is the direct opposite.

Here on Hive it's very different, your quality content is appreciated. Of course not all the time because the Upvotes is a decision left to the users. Making friends here is easier in my opinion than on Facebook based on experience. Most people on Facebook barely give attention because the attention and views is going to celebrities. Decentralization makes it really easy to grow on Hive than on Facebook.

Community size

Now in terms of community size, Hive has much smaller numbers compared to Facebook’s millions or billions of users. While Facebook’s larger community offers bigger network coverage and more possible connections to the users, Hive's smaller community offer more tight-knit engaged audience. No doubt if you want to be heard by more people Facebook is the go to, well now it's actually TikTok but comparing Facebook to Hive, Facebook would have more audience.

However don't think Facebook wins this battle because try making a blog as a regular person on Facebook and you're going to get little to no engagement on it. It's really tough as a new person on Facebook to get attention unless you've got cash to promote or you're already a popular person on other social platforms. Though there's a bigger audience, there's equally a bigger number of people in Facebook communities making posts everyday so it's pretty easy to have your content wether quality or not to get buried under the millions of posts.

Now I'm not saying that I wish for this advantage of Hive being small to remain because I really hope for Hive to get bigger, however based on how Hive structures its communities and Frontends, it's pretty easy for you as a content creator to be heard or seen. All you need to do is to put in the hardwork and your content will be appreciated.

For content creators there is a friendlier environment on Hive opposite to the wider but sometimes impersonal Facebook network interactions.

Censorship Policies

Lack of Censorship policies is one of the reasons why I love the Hive Blockchain so much. On Hive, censorship is completely decentralised and people are free to post anything they want without worrying about it being arbitrarily taken down as long as the content aligns with community policies.

I will emphasize on the fact that you have freedom of speech but the communities have rules you need to follow. - always read the rules before joining and posting in any community at all.

Facebook on the other hand is known for being strict when it comes to regulating content and can censor every post that violates their conditions of reference. That means your freedom is kinda taken away. Creators don't really have full ownership of the content they publish on Facebook and any of it can be taken down or used secretly at any point in time by the company.

There was a point where Mark Zuckerberg had to stand trial before the U.S court on privacy policy matters and user data being secretly sold to third party agencies. - now that's something you're not going to be hearing on Hive.

Post Success Factors

Here comes my favorite part about Hive and this has been a disadvantage I've had on many different platforms before discovering Hive and Web 3.0.

On Hive the success of posts depends mostly on their quality and how the community reacts to them. As long as you're creating great content that people like, value and appreciate, there's a good chance it'll do well and trend. This means that honest engagement and valuable content are rewarded under this system which is based on meritocracy. You do well, you get good stuff, as simple as that.

For me as a content creator, it allows me to take my attention off of what any algorithm would like to see or trend and I focus on the value of my blog.

On Facebook, very complex algorithms determine post visibility. You can spend lot's of time creating something good and it would do worse than a simple meme as long as that meme actually got some interactions at the early stages when it was published. That's basically how most Web 2.0 social media platforms including YouTube, TikTok and Twitter work. It makes quality content a secondary factor to post visibility and success.

This is one of the reasons why it's so difficult to grow on such platforms, you could spend even a whole year dedicating yourself to quality posts and the algorithms will keep burying each and every one of them. However here on Hive, as long as your blogs are great and useful, you can bet you'll become successful faster.

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Curation Rewards

I have never in my life earned a single penny from liking a post on Facebook or any of these giant social media platforms out there. I think that Curation Rewards on Hive is one thing that should speak volumes to its users. The Hive platform has really been designed to ensure that everything goes back to the users. If people could earn from liking Facebook posts, I would have been a millionaire, hehehe.

I'm a master at engagement and what Hive did was to bring value to all that effort.

Hive provides not only content creators with rewards but also curators who Upvote the content of creators. I believe the idea behind this is that, the curators are responsible for marketing the content and making it trend so they probably should get a cut of the earnings. I may be wrong though.

It excites me to realize that my blogs not only bring value to myself but also to those that engage with it. This author and curator rewards really helps to build a community-based ecosystem on Hive.

By deciding to “Like” or “Share” a Facebook post, there is no money that goes to any user of Facebook. I think that a Hive Upvote carries more weight than a Facebook "Like" because for someone to press a button that pays you the author, it shows that they really like your content and appreciate the effort made.

Earnings in Cryptocurrency vs. Traditional Cash

On Hive, users earn rewards in cryptocurrency which can be very good for people interested in digital assets and blockchain technology. For me I always prefer crypto for its utility. It has faster transaction, and also is more convenient and secured. Facebook on the other hand pays out its eligible creators in fiat currency that of course maybe simpler for those who are anglophiles at heart even though this is limited to certain monetization programs as well as eligibility criteria which I'll talk about in the next points.

Eligibility to Earn

Now here's something all content creators should know about.

As I said earlier, I spent about 5 months on Facebook working so hard to build a Facebook page because I had the passion to become a content creator and chose to use Facebook. Unfortunately I made a mistake of thinking that everyone can get paid as long as they reach the required threshold of 10,000 plus followers but that was not the case at all. I later on realized that there were specific countries that were eligible for this monetization and sadly my country was not amongst the list. This left me very disappointed because I knew as creator you cannot keep doing it full time without the financial support. This contributed to me quiting Facebook.

The good thing is that all users on Hive can earn through their content making it an inclusive platform for all creators globally. With Facebook, earnings are only available for selected countries and involve taking part in the platform’s monetization programs which results in locking out many potential creators like myself.

Monetization Requirements

I have already mentioned this that there's actually a criteria for being eligible to monetize your blogs on Facebook. You first have to hope you're from an eligible country and afterwards you need to gain 10,000 plus followers on your Facebook page and also some views on the videos. That's really tough work.

However with Hive, there are no specific rules for monetizing your blog which means that any user can start earning from their content right away. Right from your introduction post on Hive you can earn more money than you've ever made on Facebook.

My intro post got a good curation value of over 40 USD and that was one of my happiest moments with online platforms.

It is a real challenge for new or small content creators on Facebook to earn which is why I would recommend Hive over Facebook for new and small creators any day.

Withdrawal Thresholds Or Time

Hive has no minimum withdrawal amount, however the Curation value on an article or blog must be equal to or more than 0.02 USD for claiming. This is a really small amount and most blogs make above that regularly. Also the creators and curators can claim the payout of the blog curation after 7 days. Just one week and you have in your wallet the fruits of your labor, sounds good to me.

Facebook on the other hand will only allow you to withdraw your earnings if you have made at least $100 in revenue during the month and it may even take some time before creators can access funds. Also, Facebook allows for funds withdrawal only once per month if the income meets an expected level which may be an inconvenience for those who need to cash in on their earnings quicklyer.

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Ads

Last but certainly not the least is the ads. This I believe is one of the biggest differences between Hive and most of the giant social media platforms out there. Hive has no ads showing on the platform. This absence of ads on Hive means that it has a cleaner user interface for its users. There's not going to be a time where the readers of your blogs get distracted by an ad that pops up in your blog. I believe this is a great thing because it allows readers to give maximum attention to your content and it also prevents readers from getting frustrated having to go through endless unwanted ads just to read your blog. I think this is a big win for Hive as a platform.

Facebook makes the biggest portion of their revenue through ads which are normally shown depending on what people do and like leading sometimes to accumulation of irrelevant information.

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In the end I believe the only reason why someone would pick Facebook is if they're trying to trend as far as they can on every platform, but if you're a content creator or you just enjoy engaging on social media and you want security and control over your data, earning eligibility regardless of your location or country, enter the crypto and Web 3.0 world, convenience in your blog earnings and avoid seeing unnecessary ads, Hive is certainly what I would recommend.

To all old Hive users I say enjoy the freedom and to all Newbies I say welcome to a better social platform.

Thanks for taking the time to read my very long blog, I really hope you enjoyed this one. Like I said earlier, I would definitely love to get some feedback on this topic.