TikTokers are obsessed with this 'nostalgic' social media app: 'Reminiscent of Instagram when it first began'

Thanks to TikTok, the app became the most-downloaded app literally overnight.

Morgan Greenwald
Updated ·4 min read

On Feb. 3, many people opened the App Store on their phones and noticed something strange: Hive Social, a social media app they’d never heard of before, was quickly becoming one of the most popular downloads, reaching No. 2 on the overall Top Charts and No. 1 on the Top Charts for social networking.

Of course, this led many people to wonder: What is Hive? And more importantly, how did it become so popular seemingly overnight?

What is Hive Social?

According to the company’s App Store bio, Hive Social is an app designed to allow you to “share content and connect to people you love.” The app, which has been around since 2019, is almost like a mashup of Myspace, Twitter, Instagram and many other social media apps: On Hive, you can pick a song for your profile (like on Myspace), follow other users and see their content in your feed (like on Instagram) and post message updates (like on Twitter).

Unlike other popular platforms, Hive has a chronological feed (like Instagram used to). Instead of using an algorithm to judge what you may or may not want to see, Hive allows you to actually see what your friends and family are posting; you can also add content to your feed based on your interests, whether that’s sports or shopping.

Oh, and unlike Instagram, you don’t need a minimum amount of followers to monetize your account and promote links. Hive Social does not have a live stream feature yet, but it is coming soon.

Speaking to Fast Company, 22-year-old Hive Social creator Kassandra Pop explained that the app caters to people’s nostalgia for simpler times.

“Hive brings back the nostalgic feeling of MySpace with the ability to set songs on a user’s profile, and it also incorporates status posts where you can like, comment, and repost similar to Twitter,” she said. “While written expression is critical, we still wanted users to showcase their life, hobbies, and talents! So we also added the ability to post media content such as photos and videos in a chronological order. Some have said it’s reminiscent of Instagram when it first began.”

Hive Social is currently only available to download for iPhone users, but an Android version of the app is coming soon.

How did Hive Social blow up overnight?

Naturally, people were a bit confused when Hive became the No. 1 app literally overnight. Thankfully, Pop explained what happened on the official Hive Social Twitter account.

Evidently, Pop had TikToker Imani Lewis promote the app on her account, and her video blew up. Twitter account @1DPsychic also tweeted about the app to its 256,000 followers.

Thanks to all the publicity, Hive said on Feb. 2 that it gained 130,000 new users overnight. Thanks to the influx of new users, the servers have crashed multiple times and people have reported difficulties with downloading and using the app, though Hive is working on fixing those.

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