Facebook is one of the most used and most popular social media network . For all these years, facebook has garnered billions of users. It has been an easiest medium to make friends, connect with families and nowadays even a platform for marketing and starting small business. From general communication to uplifting personal or business economy facebook is a paramount platform. Recently, CEO of facebook Mark Zuckerberg announced that facebook is going for metaverse. This announcement has shaken up the whole world. Wanna know why this became hottest topic in whole world? Then let’s take a look at this whole scenario.
What is Metaverse?
The metaverse is a proposed iteration of the Internet that would allow users to interact with persistent online 3-D virtual environments using traditional personal computers as well as virtual and augmented reality headgear. In a simple way, metaverse is the digital world with real people who are represented by digital objects.
Microsoft Teams or Zoom are, in many respects, already Metaverses. You may be a static image, an avatar, or a live video, but you are “present” in the room. As a result, the Metaverse serves as a larger environment for “bringing individuals together.”
It can be utilized for a variety of purposes, including meetings, factory visits, onboarding, and training. Almost any human resources and talent management program can be rebuilt for the Metaverse. The Metaverse is entirely immersive if you wear 3D glasses.
Facebook and Metaverse
“You’ll be able to do practically anything you can think,” Mark Zuckerberg claimed when he launched ambitious ambitions to build the “metaverse,” a virtual reality construct designed to displace the Internet, connect virtual life with real life, and create boundless new playgrounds for everyone. To emphasize the importance of the initiative, Zuckerberg, the CEO of the corporation formerly known as Facebook, renamed it Meta. With the idea of bringing all the apps and technology under one roof Mark introduced the company Meta. Through meta the major focus will be brought in bringing metaverse to life and help people connect and find communities to uplift small business.
He waxed lyrical about attending virtual concerts with your pals, fencing with Olympic holograms, and attending mixed-reality business meetings in which some members are physically present while others appear as cartoony avatars from the facebook metaverse. According to Mark, the major concept of connecting to people which was already done through Facebook will now be more advanced and lively by new facebook metaverse.
Since the idea of metaverse can be very logical and rightful in lots of aspect, there is rise in discussion about whether this strategy may backfire or not. The whole concept of creating our own virtual clone and making it in seems like a virtual presence may not be quite convincing. With lots of rumors and scandals going around facebook and now the extension to virtual reality aspect has created lots of buzz regarding its concern among users.
Being one of the elite social media network, facebook users all around the world are concerned about how the data collected by facebook will be used in this virtual room. Over the years facebook have become a platform that enhance the social life. However, this platform has turned out to be a corridor with different doors to various group where there is exchange of information and misinformation. It has also become a medium for different anti-social activities. So, this new proposed action of facebook bringing metaverse have been quite controversial.
Concerns regarding Facebook Metaverse
Joining hands with a virtual reality facebook is aiming towards providing more realistic experience. Keeping this aside, let’s think thoroughly about one of the major issue that can arise in social networking which is privacy issue. Privacy issue and use of data collected by facebook has always been in talk. At the company’s annual Connect conference Mark Zuckerberg highlighted this as key point while introducing metaverse. According to him user’s privacy will be the first priority. This strategy will have parental privacy control as said by Zuckerberg. But the experts are showing some contradicting concerns.
Let’s discuss few concern about this.
1. Huge data harvesting motive and privacy concern
The first concern regarding metaverse highlighted by one of the expert is the motive behind this. As we have already discussed previously, through facebook’s metaverse users can have their virtual presence in lots of activities like business conference, gaming and even traveling through their avatar. The avatar or virtual clone of user needs lots of personal data which includes biometric information, physical appearance and proportion, gesture the user make in real world, fashion sense and even some of the personal contact. So by all these data collected , there is high chance of it being misused. It’s safe to assume that Facebook sees this as the next frontier of data collection rather than work and leisure activities.
2. Digital and virtual addiction to Gen-z group
Addiction to social media is one of the major concern in digital era. People are glued to their digital device and are focused in the digital world. Creating a VR space within a social media is like adding fuel to the fire of digital addiction. Typically known as Gen-z group the generation that are growing parallel with technology are the biggest trap. This generation has been introduced to lots of new technology in daily basis. From VR to AR, this group is familiarized to lots of technological extent.
Many young facebook user are very well known regarding their addiction to digital media but are unable to overcome it. So by facebook metaverse it’s likely that addiction will grow more since whole new virtual world where all the real world activities will possible is being created. This will reduce the real-world interaction and social activities.
3. Monopoly of “Meta” in business
Meta already has a near-complete stranglehold on our social digital lives. Without using any of Meta’s social media platforms, it’s tough to maintain a digital social presence.The metaverse has the potential to be the internet’s next big thing. A number of things that aren’t now conceivable on the internet—dancing, singing, and working out—could make sense in the metaverse.
While this is thrilling, a Meta-dominated metaverse would just concentrate more of these new social life opportunities in the hands of a single firm. A metaverse governed by Meta could herald the end of autonomous metaverse innovation. Scaling and muscling out competitors are essential to Meta’s business tactics. It bought WhatsApp and Instagram, replicated Snapchat’s features (after failing to buy the company), and developed Instagram Reels to compete with TikTok.
These things can be a good marketing policy but will definitely surpass the future innovation which may be possible. Recreating every feature meta may dominate over the internet that can cause some huge business clash.
In conclusion, adding a virtual world to encourage more social interaction and give a different experience in using social media is a brilliant move. Facebook itself being a media used all over the world introducing this new technology is definitely eye catching in public eye. Business wise the investment done in metaverse by facebook is a big move in advancing technology. Besides this it will surely bring positive response as long as the company addresses the concerns of users.
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