Blockchain-based social media platforms emerged as a push for decentralized governance, in response to growing skepticism towards centralized social media corporations.  

Steem, a leading blockchain-based social media platform, has recently been taken over in an attempt to centralize control. The disempowered witnesses responded promptly with a hard fork - Hive - in an attempt to re-establish the previous governance model.  

We, a group of researchers interested in how social media can be governed, want to find out what is really going on in this quest for new governance approaches. We want to hear both sides, Steemers and Hivers. We want to find out:  

1. Steemers: What was the motivation for taking over Steem's witness nodes?  
2. Hivers: What was the motivation for the Hive hard fork?
3. Everyone: How exactly was the takeover / the hard fork carried out? Why was this possible to occur in the first place? Could this happen again in the future? How do you think will the situation evolve?
4. Witnesses on both sides: What is your vision for the governance of Steem / Hive? How do you intend to achieve this vision?
5. Users on both sides: Which platform do you intend to use onwards (Steem, Hive, or both), and why?