<center>![3 years Hive.jpg](https://images.hive.blog/DQmSFuXfK4wMbWziaU1XgDo8p34PrsbTq6GbV6o71EnMwp1/3%20years%20Hive.jpg)</center><center>*[Image Source](https://www.canva.com/media/MADxya40M4U)*</center>

# 3 Years

The other day, I received a notification from @hivebuzz that I've been happily using HIVE blockchain services for 3 whole years. I thought I had joined later but obviously my memory isn't as good as a blockchain's haha! It's been an instrumental part in my knowledge relating to this crypto, decentralisation and blockchain malarkey but it's been really exciting as a two-bit content creator,  sharing my music, travel and general blogging ramblings. 

I'll try to sum up what I've learned over the last 3 years and highlight the basics as best I can so you can slide right in if you're new (or even if you've been around a while)! Entering a Web3 world is all about you owning your experience so hopefully I can help get you started!

Also, shout out to the 1,000 folks who follow me on Hive! I reached this milestone on the same day I hit 3 years so thanks a lot for the support!

<center>![image.png](https://images.hive.blog/DQmdUCY6RjUy4pKicQCydXBw1Aio9mHXXX16CfTq8HKEdsS/image.png)</center>

<center>![Screenshot_20210305190906.png](https://images.hive.blog/DQmdtC7Cq8A5R3as2RBCyTERhjKm4RRUzW68NRXNhXtzLC9/Screenshot_20210305-190906.png)</center>

# Take It In Your Stride

When I first joined, there was hardly anything other than a blogging frontend but these days, there's so much to get stuck in to that it makes even those who've been around for a while a little dizzy! So my advice when you first get started is take it slowly! I remember it taking me a little while to understand the basics of just using this chain but it's been worth it! You just have to take it in your stride, play the long game and not be overwhelmed - little by little, you'll get there!

<center>https://images.hive.blog/0x0/https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/nickyhavey/Rw9yw5gg-div201.png</center>

# Account Setup

This is probably the most daunting part of it all but take your time to understand the following and you'll be set! Remember, it's a little different to what we're used to from Facebook and Twitter but the great thing about having a HIVE account is you don't need to have any other login info to use other Hive powered sites, games or apps. Spend the most time understanding this section as it's SO important for the security of your account - you own your passwords, no-one else.

<hr>

### The Keys To Your Hive Experience

Make sure you understand what your "private keys" do first and foremost as these are your various passwords to get in to your account. Keep them in a safe place and don't lose them or give them away to anyone! Remember:
- **Posting key** (level 1 access) - for posting, commenting and voting on content
- **Active key** (level 2 access) - for wallet transfers (sending crypto), voting on community proposals and voting witnesses (who maintain the chain)
- **Memo key** - to send encrypted memos put # at the beginning of a wallet memo. You use the memo key if you have received an encrypted memo so you can read it.
- **Owner key** (level 3 access) - to change all keys in case of a breach in your account - don't lose this
- **Master Password** (level everything) - your absolute last resort - keep this in a safe place and offline!

<hr>

### Keep Your Keys Safe

Once you feel comfortable with what these keys are, [Hive Keychain](https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/hive-keychain/jcacnejopjdphbnjgfaaobbfafkihpep?hl=en) is a great password protected browser extension to download and put your posting, active and memo keys in. It seems counter-intuitive but these keys are designed to be impossible to remember for your own safety so you can't change them to your usual passwords you use elsewhere.

<hr>

### Recovery Account

You won't have to use any email address or personal info to create an account on HIVE which also means that keeping your keys safe is of paramount importance. It also means you will need to have a trusted account on HIVE to be your "recovery account" should something go wrong - hopefully you will have been brought on here with a friend that will help you recover your account but make sure you can contact whoever owns that account so you can get your account back.

<hr>

### HIVE Power

When you first start, you can only do limited activities as you won't have any HIVE Power (HP). Essentially, using all these Hive powered sites consumes resources on the network which you can only acquire by having HP. Think of it like when your Netflix keeps buffering during a movie because someone else on the network is livestreaming, there's not enough bandwidth. HP is your bandwidth and you probably need about 100HP at an absolute max for optimum use but there are services willing to loan HP to you for free to help you with this. If you're a bit more au fait with crypto then you can buy HIVE from exchanges, send it to your account and stake it this way.

OK, that's the account setup stuff covered, the rest of the sections won't be quite so intense as once you're set-up, you're good to go mates! But where the heck do you even begin? Let's say you have specific interests and want to meet like minded-people instead of just posting in to the abyss... 

<center>https://images.hive.blog/0x0/https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/nickyhavey/Rw9yw5gg-div201.png</center>

# Communities Of Specific Interest

Before you do your first introduction post, my recommendation is to take a look around at the vast array of communities of specific interests that are available and **start commenting** - get your name seen on posts and network like you would do in any other social site. It's a great way to meet people and build a rapport/following! Then you can do your intro post and away you go!

I have created an "[Evergreen List of Communities](https://peakd.com/hive-174578/@nickyhavey/havey-s-guide-to-hive-evergreen-list-of-communities)" which has 27 different communities of various topics with links to all of them so you just need to click whatever takes your fancy and subscribe to that community page. There's all sorts - Music, Travel, Sports, Crypto, Photography, Entrepreneurship, Poetry, Sewing... pretty much everything is covered and each community is buzzing with activity.

If you're going to join one of these communities and share your posts, then make sure you...

<center>https://images.hive.blog/0x0/https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/nickyhavey/Rw9yw5gg-div201.png</center>

# Keep Your Content Original

Plagiarism, copy paste, recycling old content word-for-word, spamming are all **seriously frowned upon** and will land you in a hot steaming pile of manure. My recommendation (what I do) is to make sure that your content is all your own or stock/commercial-free with sources to the original link if you have used others work - different communities will specify what they are looking for so read and follow their guidelines.

<center>https://images.hive.blog/0x0/https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/nickyhavey/Rw9yw5gg-div201.png</center>

# Discord

Discord is usually where a lot of these communities have their chat rooms as there isn't anything created yet on Hive that allows you to interact instantly (other than a prototype PeakD chat function). For me, I don't hang out on Discord as much any more but it can be a great place to get to know others - not compulsory but a lot of announcements are made in various Discord servers so you may have to get set up there too (it's a bog standard email and password for that one though)!

<center>https://images.hive.blog/0x0/https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/nickyhavey/Rw9yw5gg-div201.png</center>

# If You're Stuck, Just Ask
Nothing more to say about this really! Best place to ask for help is probably in any Discord servers you're in but there are plenty of helpful people around the place who will be happy to answer questions if you are struggling. 

<center>https://images.hive.blog/0x0/https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/nickyhavey/Rw9yw5gg-div201.png</center>

# Get Involved & Have Fun!

Hopefully when you're settled in to this new approach of social sites, you'll have fun with those of similar interests and keep on coming back to get your fill! There's so much to explore here and I hope that I've covered the essentials on the social side - yes there is a crypto and gaming side to Hive too but as I'm not a financial advisor I'm not going to get in to that here and this post is long enough already!

Thanks for the good vibes everyone, here's to the next 3 years!

How has your experience been since joining Hive? What have you learned the most since being here? Let me know in the comments below!

Take care

Nicky

P.S. [here's](https://peakd.com/hive-193816/@nickyhavey/brandnewtrancemusic-nostalgia-fjlqaquaiw5i04ckejx2) my latest Trance music release from yesterday in case you missed it - hope you enjoy! 

<iframe width="100%" height="300" scrolling="no" frameborder="no" allow="autoplay" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/999144328&color=%23ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&show_teaser=true&visual=true"></iframe><div style="font-size: 10px; color: #cccccc;line-break: anywhere;word-break: normal;overflow: hidden;white-space: nowrap;text-overflow: ellipsis; font-family: Interstate,Lucida Grande,Lucida Sans Unicode,Lucida Sans,Garuda,Verdana,Tahoma,sans-serif;font-weight: 100;"><a href="https://soundcloud.com/nickyhavey" title="Nicky Havey" target="_blank" style="color: #cccccc; text-decoration: none;">Nicky Havey</a> · <a href="https://soundcloud.com/nickyhavey/nostalgia" title="Nostalgia" target="_blank" style="color: #cccccc; text-decoration: none;">Nostalgia</a></div>


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