In the broadest sense, the only time I can think of where something Hive-related brought actual content consumers (from external sources) was with the public launch of Splinterlands.

People bought into the game. They pulled out their BTC, Visa and Mastercard ad bought into the game. Setting aside what may have happened to Splinterlands since then, there was an actual use case, and thousands of accounts were created daily for the purpose of "consuming" that particular game content.

In writing this post, and by starting to experiment with "external" content, is that I have to set aside any attachment I might have to that content being relevant to folks already within Hive.

Which — ironically — is what I was doing before the allure of getting rewarded with crypto for content.

I'm a minority, though.

Part of Hive's challenge is that so many OGs around here are blockchainiacs and developers, not content creators. And those content creators who were part of this gig for the circus that was the second half of 2017 lost sight of reality because they suddenly could get $300 for a post without having to tell anyone about it.

You don't just open a store and hope people will show up. You have to go tell people about it, so they'll show up and become customers.