Hive Social: Twitter alternative sees huge surge in popularity as people look to flee Elon Musk’s social network

Team of two people thanks users for patience amid complaints and technical issues

Hive Social, a relatively new alternative to Twitter, is seeing a huge surge in popularity as people look to flee Elon Musk’s social network.

A range of Twitter alternatives have gathered new prominence in recent days, in the wake of Mr Musk’s ownership and transformation of the company. The most popular is Mastodon – though that has come with a range of issues, such as a complicated signup process and complaints about the service’s design.

Now a new app, Hive, has become a new focus as people search for a new way of recreating their networks and experience on Twitter.

Hive borrows much of the same design as Twitter, with users being given a profile that can be followed, and will lead posts to go into their followers’ feeds. It also looks similar to Instagram, with the option to share large images on those news feeds.

It also adds features from older social networks. Users can choose a song to play on their profile page, for instance, just as was offered on MySpace – though Hive does so by borrowing from Apple Music.

But much remains unknown about the app. As a new app, its plans for the future as well as its privacy and security commitments are still not entirely clear.

Its site lists content guidelines that ban hate speech, copyright infringement and more. Those users who fail to abide by those rules may find their account suspended or shut down, it warns.

It also has a short privacy policy that gives the data the app will collect, which includes data on people’s devices. But it also requires users to “acknowledge and accept that no method of transmission over the internet, or method of electronic storage, is 100% secure and reliable, and we cannot guarantee its absolute security”.

The company did not immediately respond to questions from The Independent about those policies, and how it intended to make money or use its data in the future.

On Twitter, the company said that it made up of two people, and that it was thankful for people’s patience as it works through issues and the influx of new signups.

“We’re working really quick to communicate with new users, working on improving the app, and designing our new accessibility features after amazing feedback from many users who benefit from some great tools to enhance their experience,” it said in a tweet.