Metaverse- Horror or Haven?

Have you ever thought about the future of humanity’s technological advancement? Or are there miles of tech-mountains to conquer? Metaverse is the current haven for techno enthusiasts, a new companion to NFTs and Crypto aficionados. Online opinions, interestingly, are divided- is Metaverse an “innovative” platform that seems to merely be the imminent pinnacle of present day technology, or is it a Trojan Horse that is a comically tragic harbinger of late stage capitalism?

To understand the ramifications of Metaverse, or for the sake of not sounding biased, any effect that it will have on the society as a whole, it's necessary to dig deeper into its origin. It is certainly entertaining to think that the idea for rebranding into “Metaverse” emerged from a late-night panicky meeting that was called for damage control stemming from the revelations by a whistleblower, a former employee of FaceBook. But it was probably in the making for some time, before harrowing details of the consequences of Facebook were even out to the public. Metaverse is certainly not a new concept, it’s origins can be traced back to 1992, when Sci-fi writer Neal Stephenson coined the term to describe “a 3D virtual space”.

In the words of the whistleblower, Frances Haugen, “the company intentionally hides vital information from the public and from the governments around the world” and that “(FaceBook)prioritizes engagement and user growth over online safety”. The realities of the incompetence of Facebook regulations and its repercussions are not alien to us. It is fairly common to assume that most of us have lost someone in our family or close vicinity to Facebook misinformation. Apart from contributing to active political disinformation and an alarming amount of right-wing campaigns being encouraged in the global south, Facebook also remained silent while fully conscious of its effects on self esteem on teenagers and young adults, pushing them into extremes, ideologically or otherwise.

Metaverse is presented as a platform to escape from reality. A platform that encompasses the uncertainty that the pandemic has caused, somewhere we can experience a life similar to actual reality, but not quite. It plans to shift our natural environment to an apparently convenient virtual reality universe, a place where people can socialise digitally, where you can choose avatars for yourself; detaching yourself from your native domain. While it’s expansion is simply unstoppable at this point in time, it is crucial to understand the impending harm to social interactions that will be facilitated by profit-driven corporations that push the bitter actuality of unchecked and unsafe virtual interactions. With the looming threat of online addiction, and with our privacy compromised, we are looking into a dystopian future, one that doesn’t sound so promising. It is of prime importance that we tread with high caution so as to stray away from the predicted future written in our books.

Still curious? Read on here:

The History of Metaverse

Facebook Whistleblower fears the Metaverse