Some good ideas here, but I think we'll need to lean in harder on Hive's unique potential. The reward pool may have downsides, but it's our USP, even compared to other Web3 projects: it's moon magic that you can make money without ads or direct payments.

Another option that will appeal to certain creators is that they can issue their own fan tokens, using them for leaderboards, selling/rewarding attention, contest prizes, selling merchandise etc. This would require app features to make it user-friendly. But they won't be limited by platform rules.

And we do need to appeal to niche communities, but the examples you mention refer to technical circumstances which don't come with group cohesion. I'm thinking about very specific subcultures, preferably ones which are not entirely legal or would scare away advertisers on social media. For example people interested in nootropics, peptides and research chemicals. We already have popular posts about urban exploring here, and a prolific 3D printer. We could get a little wilder with such hobbies.