![]() So why is Zuckerberg going so big on the metaverse idea? I think there are five reasons. An open platform is not in Facebook’s DNA. Even today, just to use Facebook’s Oculus Quest headset requires a Facebook account. These won’t be just for play, but for work, education, and yes, even and especially social networking.Īs with Facebook itself, Zuckerberg’s “metaverse” will be a walled garden for a minority of people, not the one true metaverse for all people. What’s certain is that we will have many virtual online spaces, worlds and platforms - probably thousands of them. But that’s not what real people will want. It’s the dream of a brainy introvert on the spectrum who’s awkward with people and wants to wear goggles all day, take the “blue pill,” and live in the Matrix. In reality, Facebook’s “metaverse” really should be called the “Zuckerverse” - it’s the vision and pet project of the company’s CEO, personally. It’s unlikely - because proprietary and exclusive platforms, with their artificial scarcity, will attract more investment - but possible. In other words, the only possible (but unlikely) way to end up with a single global and universal virtual space is if the internet or the web somehow evolves all the virtual parts that enable users to interact with all web services and each other in 3D virtual reality spaces. ![]() ![]() And if Zuckerberg builds a virtual universe, it won’t be the metaverse. So why does Zuckerberg think his is good? Why Zuckerberg wants his own metaverseįirst, let’s start with the basics: If there’s a metaverse, it won’t be Zuckerberg’s. For example, in Cline’s book, everyone is so invested in a metaverse called the “OASIS” (where people not only play games, but also go to school, work, and pay their taxes) that the real world declines into squalor from neglect.įiction’s metaverse is bad. The metaverse literary concept is universally dystopian, representing a kind of totalitarian capitalism in which people are compelled to live much of their lives in a fake world owned by a corporation. The metaverse has been a staple of cyberpunk fiction since the 1980s, from William Gibson’s Burning Chrome and Neuromancer to Ernest Cline’s Ready Player One, which was made into a feature film by Steven Spielberg. People move around in this universe as avatars, which are 3D representations that can interact with other people through their avatars, and also interact with avatar-like entities that are really software agents. ![]() In his telling, the “metaverse” is a virtual reality version of the internet, where an alternative universe exists in a shared VR space using real-world concepts like roads, buildings, rooms, and everyday objects. ![]() Īre we all going to live and work in Facebook’s “metaverse”? What is the metaverse?Īuthor Neal Stephenson coined the word “metaverse” for his 1992 science fiction novel Snow Crash. He’s so committed to the idea that he intends to hire 10,000 Europeans to work on it, and even change the name of his company from Facebook to a metaverse-related brand. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has been making news lately by talking about the “metaverse.” Zuckerberg says it’s the future of Facebook - and the internet. ![]()
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