Monday, August 25, 2008 Businesses Use "Hives" to Build Niche Communities HiveLive, a platform for building business-oriented custom social communities, lets users create custom blogs, wikis, and forums with Web 2.0 building blocks called Hives. While a social network like Facebook is geared toward the mass consumer market, HiveLive is carving out a viable niche for itself the enterprise market. The company's different focus means it isn't in direct competition with Facebook: "We work with organizations who often use both," CEO John Kembel says. A company-specific network allows for employees to have private, internal conversations about future plans like product designs, Kembel says. The user-generated social networks, easily formed and transformed by members, are based on the structure of beehives. Competitors include Ning, OneSite and Boston-based Mzinga. Andy interviewed Mzinga co-CEO Barry Libert in November, 2007. --Kelsey Blodget, Associate Producer

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