On October 4th, Facebook faced a severe financial crash and allegations they’re supporting hate speech in the virtual community. People were disappointed in Zuckerberg, and they burned Twitter with nasty comments.
Quickly after the allegations, Zuckerberg shifted Metaverse through the back door and overshadowed the whistleblower case. Not so long ago, he made a virtual presentation where he revealed that Facebook is going Meta.
Below, we will deepen the new Facebook innovation, including why Zuckerberg insists on going Meta. But first – let’s break the whole concept down.
What is Metaverse?
Metaverse is the successor of the internet. Instead of just ‘passively’ bracing the internet with our screens – we can ‘physically’ enter inside and become active virtual citizens!
It’s a virtual world we enter with the help of headset devices – like those for VR – only here we’re not playing games but connecting with real people wherever they are and where we want to meet. It still sounds futuristic, but if we examine the interest in Metaverse, we’ll understand that it has already taken its toll.
It’s safe to say that Metaverse is a decentralized world, just like cryptos are decentralized currencies. Both these wouldn’t have survived a day if the demand was low. But, if the majority backs them up, can you imagine what will happen?
If they reach mass adoption, we’ll have a virtual world that we can customize, buy new things in, properties, and many more. Metaverse developers aim to employ cryptos as a native currency for this virtual world.
For example, suppose you virtually wander around some part of Southern France and notice a lovely house where you can hold meetings with your colleagues or spend time with the people you’re separated from. In that case, you can buy it with cryptocurrencies. No need to wonder why you must buy it because it’s the new way of purchasing a website, which theoretically speaking is a virtual land you own.
The bottom line is that Metaverse is the new successor of the internet and the end of the Dot Com Era.
Why Does Zuckerberg Invest in Metaverse?
Back in 2014, Mark Zuckerberg spent $2 billion to buy Oculus. It’s one of the leading VR device companies incorporating the latest VR trends. Since then, almost a decade has passed by, but VR hasn’t reached mass adoption. Still, even with these contradictory results to the goals, Zuckerberg still doesn’t give up his vision. Hence, he’s got nearly 20% of his Facebook employees working for VR and AR. Additionally, financial experts calculate that Zuckerberg spends around $5 billion on Metaverse each year.
It’s intriguing why Zuckerberg is on a Meta spending spree, but analysts suggest several reasons:
Facebook Ages Quickly
It’s true. Although Facebook is the leading social media – it aged quickly. If you conduct some demographic research, you can do this experiment in your circle, and you will notice that the youngest generation – Gen Z – doesn’t even use Facebook. For school projects, maybe. Otherwise, they’re obsessed with TikTok. Millennials use Instagram and Snapchat, rarely checking up on Facebook. And the only active generation that uses Facebook is Boomers.
To revive the spirit, Facebook launched its first Metaverse experience – Horizon Workshops. This stunt once again spiked the interest, and below – we’ll explain what it’s all about.
Shushing the Whistleblower Scandal?
Not so long ago, the ruling social media got hacked. Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp were down for longer than 6 hours. Although users got a detox from socials, these apps faced severe financial clashes. One minute offline triggers a $222,000 loss for Facebook.
Cyber security agents reported that it was a whistleblower case. Frances Haugen leaked her collected data that proved the CEO of the company Mark Zuckerberg made money on hate speech, cyberbullying, and other sensitive content that jeopardizes the safety of the users. However, to those accusations – Mark answered with Meta.
On October 28th, Mark showed up in his presentation explaining his intentions on improving Facebook with Metaverse. Since we’re already used to exposing ourselves to the internet, Metaverse is a form of embodied internet. The social audience still didn’t rest in the whistleblower case, but Metaverse can improve our online safety environment.
Metaverse and Safe Society
The main allegations that fell onto Zuckerberg made him look like a villain supporting hate speech, desegregating society, enforcing hurtful comments based on politics, and much more. The virtual democracy is shut down, and the audience aims to cast out Zuckerberg from CEO.
However, Zuckerberg held a presentation explaining Facebook’s Privacy and Safety. Although Metaverse is live, we will still be able to choose who we hang out with virtually. We can still block people from popping into our society and reporting them to higher authorities. Having these options in a virtual live world will reduce the hurtful comments and stray away from the politics or any other area that hurts the democracy we have online.
The reason for such classifications is because other interesting socials appeared on the social network scene. They brought fresh trends that appealed to the audience.
On the other hand, Facebook has over 3.5 billion registered users. That’s half of Earth’s population. Hence, by incorporating a hot innovation, Zuckerberg will refresh Facebook’s demographic problem. So, this summer, we got the first VR workshop where we can connect with our people’s avatars that channel them.
Horizon Workshops
On August 19th, Facebook launched its first virtual workshop. The Horizon Workshop is only part of the big Metaverse project they’re working on.
Horizon Workshops is a virtual reality space where your colleagues can join and have a meeting with your avatars. Although this sounds a bit off, it’s much better than having to meet someone on Zoom. Most of us who had Zoom meetings during the pandemic struggled to find a better connection – the videos were grid, and we practically had a meeting with a computer.
In Horizon Workshops, you can create your Avatar and join the meeting with your colleagues. You can sense their presence thanks to the polished features like sound specifications. For example, you can turn your head to your colleague’s location while they speak. VR developers have customized the sound to be louder to the side your colleague speaks from, and if you turn towards them, you can hear them equally.
What’s even better at Horizon Workshops is that you can see your colleague’s expressions. Your Avatar mimics your facial expressions in real-time. In that sense, you will feel more present.
Ultimately, Horizon Workshops exist to simplify remote meetings. With the joysticks that come with the headset, you can brainstorm the virtual whiteboard instead of typing everything on the computer. There are numerous features to use in the workshop, like changing the setting, rearranging the participants, and many more. It’s a simple way of gathering everyone to join and participate actively in the meeting.
A Peek into Facebook’s Future
Facebook sounded hostile to us at the beginning. However, a few months later – it turned into the friendliest place. Zuckerberg knows this the best, as he knows how to storm the weather when people fear something.
Hence, Zuckerberg feels the same about Metaverse. Right now, Metaverse feels crazy, but Mark explains it’s the new generation of the internet. Instead of just being on the internet, we can become part of the internet. We can create our virtual worlds and have an easier and simpler life. According to the presentation, we can peek into Facebook’s Future – the Metaverse world.
Expanding Social Events
If your friend is at a concert and shares it with friends, you can join virtually, or your Avatar will enjoy the concert you couldn’t make. You will hear just as if you’ve been to the concert. Therefore, you can rock your favorite PJs, groom your Avatar, and send it to the party. Dance all you want – from your home!
However, Facebook Metaverse doesn’t improve social events only, but gaming too.
Facebook VR Gaming
Metaverse is live. That contributes greatly to Facebook gaming. With Metaverse, Facebook users will be able to play with other people. Users can create Avatars from their favorite games like Fortnite and collide in the games they offer.
Facebook tirelessly boosts game development. Currently, they create strategic games with the latest gaming trends, multiplayer platform expansion, and many other new features.
Regarding the games, Mark is more than confident they will be a huge success. Actually, he does have a point we cannot negate the fact when FarmVille was all the craze back in the day.
Fitness and Wellness
Since most people follow online programs to stay fit from work, Mark plans to further develop this field. Many people opt to stay fit from home because it’s cheaper yet healthier. However, it’s not that motivating. Working out alone cannot replace working out with an instructor or a friend. But, Metaverse can fix this better than anything.
Users can stay to work out from home, also instructors, but once they connect to Facebook Meta – they will be together virtually. The Avatars mirror reactions in real-time, which is perfect because instructors can follow your training and keep you company.
Besides, it’s a job opportunity. Imagine Metaverse gets mass adoption. Fitness instructors will have more job opportunities to lead their own specific programs instead of constantly applying to gyms or busting themselves filming and editing YouTube videos.
We must mention dancing in this part. Professional dancers can connect and perform together with their virtual friends.
Improves Remote Working
The pandemic proved we’re all capable of remote working. While in the beginning, everyone found it as a blessing, four months later, in lockdowns, that blessing turned into a curse. Mark retrieved the original feeling, and it’s all a matter of perspective.
One benefit that’s economical in terms of money and time when working from home is the commute. People saved money and finally did their projects on time. However, the obstacles besides motivation and nostalgia are the remote organization and poor communication.
Well, with Metaverse, colleagues can host a meeting in real-time, point out the main feature on virtual whiteboards, and get the work done easily. After work, they can connect and have a game night or even meet in person if they live nearby – either way – the work will get done faster than before.
Education
If the world is ready for Metaverse, this might be a pivotal moment in education. The Metaverse developers will reload data on multiple educational fields. You can study astrophysics as in the Meta presentation. Just zoom in the sky, find the planet, click on it, and voila – updated information on everything you wanted to know.
Metaverse can make history the most wanted subject because you can travel back in time. You can go back to Ancient Rome, learn how they built everything step by step. Or meet the authors whose works made your life bearable. Just being present in their time will signal why they wrote their novels in that specific manner.
Metaverse can significantly improve education, and students won’t struggle to write their assignments. They’ll have quality time by being present on the internet instead of just scrolling and reading on a screen.
eCommerce
Building sustainable ecosystems are crucial for the future of eCommerce. Mark is convinced that Metaverse will improve the online businesses and the shopping experience.
With Metaverse, customers will have a broader choice. But, eCommerce workers can get excited about a lot of things. They can, for example, choose a unique business model to refresh their store. That can be tipping, subscriptions, ads, or other models that make only sense in the Metaverse.
Mark is convinced that Metamerse will boost the economy and widen the job position fields to infinity. After all – the more experts we have – the better!
Finally, there is Facebook’s future with Metaverse and the whistleblower controversies. It’s not up to us to direct our readers to take a side, but these are the main points how Mark sees to improve Facebook and be part of the internet revolution.
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