By Chase Nerison
On October 28, 2021, as CEO of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg announced a complete rebranding of the company to Meta. Owning a large portion of the social media space such as Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and more, the company’s focus has shifted towards a Metaverse. This is a shared virtual space combining the physical world with the virtual world. It includes virtual reality, augmented reality, and the internet. The term was first stated in Neal Stephenson’s 1992 sci-fi novel “Snow Crash.” With Meta’s influence, many believe this is the next step in virtual social interaction. The necessary question is are we ready for an electronic, surreal place that involves physical reality?
Augmented Reality has the ability to significantly enrich our lives. Surgeons, construction workers, engineers, scientists, and more will be able to perform better and faster. This also could revolutionize the entertainment sector as well as education. Students can experience engaging information that is thrilling and inspiring. It is astounding one place has the opportunity to function in both work and play contexts. This will allow an overlap of our digital and physical lives in wealth, socialization, productivity, shopping, and entertainment. This could be the future. However, if used improperly, the Metaverse could be disastrous and prove even more divisive than social media. This could seriously threaten society.
Recently, two big topics are cryptocurrency and web 3.0. Both areas have heavy speculation, but most supporters believe it will be wildly successful. Web 3.0 is known as the decentralized web. This is what some believe to be the next generation of internet applications and services powered by the blockchain. Web 1.0 was being able to access content on the internet and read it while web 2.0 emphasized user-generated content as we have seen with social media. If it succeeds, web 3.0 will give its users ownership of their content- this is revolutionary. Web 3.0, cryptocurrency, and the Metaverse all overlap as the platform seeks this style of content and the heavy use of cryptocurrency. With so many new projects being made every day for Meta, many investments in this area can be seen as literal “boom or bust” as they can more than 10x your money or crash to nothing.
The future of Meta is important to all with its ability to impact society. With web 3.0 and cryptocurrency gaining popularity, many are pushing for decentralization, and it will be something to watch as it could affect big institutions as well as the government. Possible regulation should be an interesting area to follow to see how policymakers react if these areas continue to boom. Additionally, will financial institutions start to invest in these areas or is it still risky? Cryptocurrency has been seen as a risky asset for some time, but we saw institutions buy assets like Bitcoin this year. There is so much innovation that it can be overwhelming, but it is an exciting time to create wealth and grow your future.
Most people will agree social media already manipulates our reality. In my opinion, the Metaverse will only increase that. A major risk is people’s physical and mental health. Since this is relatively new technology, there are no long-term studies on the physical and mental implications, but there are many studies that state cybersickness, dizziness and discomfort can be caused by excessive use of screens or virtual reality items.
Regarding reality manipulation, there are three concerns: physical health, mental health, and digital consent. First, virtual reality headsets can cause disorientation and injury. In special cases, people can become comfortable in taking actions without consequences in the metaverse that are hazardous in the real world. Secondly, side effects vary, but immersive games can lead to depression, isolation, lonely behavior, and even suicide and violence. This will be very important to its development as Meta is not necessarily a game, so it is still unresearched. Third, there are no laws or legal jurisdiction in the metaverse as there are no boundaries. If the Metaverse becomes wildly successful, I suspect this needing change to hold individuals responsible for their actions.
Another risk is data protection and computer security. This includes personal, biometric, financial, and even emotional data, which raises concerns about its security, confidentiality, and intellectual property as well. The metaverse will also increase the number of places that can be attacked. Since avatars are used as a form of identification, their data is susceptible to being copied, manipulated, stolen, or erased.
The Metaverse has some very interesting, powerful possibilities. These include a metaverse-only brand, multi-dimensional escape, shopping to be performed in one’s home as shown below, activities parallel to real life, intensifying gamification, replacing human influencers with virtual ones, and forming collective power. There is also the possibility none of this occurs if they build the Metaverse and no one comes. Personally, I think that is unlikely, but it is something to include.
This is a terrifyingly great project. Finding ourselves already in layers of technology can be dangerous, but it can also improve the way we access news and information, communicate with friends and family, and more. Meta will be a great company and stock to watch for years to come. I look forward to seeing how the Metaverse interacts with real life as I think it will be successful and personally believe in the stock. Like all social media, I believe in moderation, but I predict people will become dependent on these virtual layers.
Works Cited
Felisa. (2021, November 2). Is the metaverse safe? Five risks associated with this technology. Today in 24 English. Retrieved December 5, 2021, from https://today.in-24.com/News/538608.html.
Genova, J. (2021, October 25). The metaverse: Potential and risks. O'Dwyers PR. Retrieved December 6, 2021, from https://www.odwyerpr.com/story/public/16978/2021-10-25/metaverse-potential-risks.html.
Metaverse: Augmented reality inventor warns it could be far worse than social media. Big Think. (2021, November 6). Retrieved December 5, 2021, from https://bigthink.com/the-future/metaverse-augmented-reality-danger/.
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