The metaverse is here! Or is it? Still in its infancy, if you’ve ever messed around with crypto or purchased an NFT, even been a part of a Minecraft MMORPG – then you’ve already been playing around with the building blocks of the metaverse, although you may not have known it.
With our ever-connected lives, the metaverse is a reality as we have played connect the dots between our digital work lives for many years, now interoperability is coming to our online personal lives. What a trip!
It’s a reality we must accept as part of our lives at some point—now more than ever. But what impact will the metaverse have on our lifestyle? Will it change for the better or worse?
Presently, the metaverse affords people the ability to do anything they’d do in their daily lives: commuting to work, chilling out with friends, and running errands. Practically every action imaginable can be executed through the metaverse. But what is this whole new world exactly? We’re about to explore what this technological advancement has to offer—whether good, bad, or ugly.
Pro: A way to connect dispersed peoples and places that has never been seen
Sure, we have Google Maps for walking around any neighborhood worldwide, in an albeit static way. But what if we could wander down them digitally, chatting to a friend through our headset, popping into shops to see if we might like to buy something?
What if we could pop into a mahjong game and learn something new from the shark Chinese ladies who are the champs? What if we could build our own homes and farmland in remote Canada?
Pro: Anonymity goes physical
A way for homebound people to become influencers, no matter their illnesses or looks. Sure, you’ll still need talent to compete with other influencers in the online worlds, but for people who may not trade on physical currency – often the case now – this represents a new avenue of income. The trend has already started with the rise of faceless Twitch streamers, who use either costumes, avatars, or filters to stream live to their audiences.
With filters the norm across social media, from Instagram to TikTok and Snapchat, we’re now able to curate our appearance exactly as we wish. As with voice filters? It makes it even easier. Become an enhanced version of you or a dragon hybrid.
Pro: Another Covid-like black swan event ensures we all don’t go mad
While Zoom Friday night drinks could be fun and learning how to make sourdough and copy TikTok dances was cool, lockdowns during COVID pushed many people around the world to mental health breaking points.
By developing richer online interactive experiences that more closely resemble the real world – even digital therapy sessions – we will be better prepared in the future in the event of such a catastrophic event. Plus, you’d never have to see your boss in their pajamas accidentally with avatar-only online workplaces.
Pro: A whole new way to curate your own online life
Presently, we curate our online lives through a combination of our subscriptions and clicks and the content we choose to put out about our lives, loves, hopes, and dreams. Gamers, on the other hand, are more used to creating an in-game persona, whether it’s a soldier or warrior in online play or a dragon born in a real-life game of dungeons and dragons.
The metaverse presents an opportunity to be any of these personas or to show other people your diversity through all online personas. Who do you want to be today and show others?
Con: A hotbed of unmoderated communities
When social aspects are involved with online communities, it becomes a challenge to decide if and how to moderate speech and opinion. We have seen how Twitter bans have even forced the ex-US president onto less moderated platforms.
The trouble that many people run into who run online communities is how much involvement is too much? Where is the balance? Places like Reddit have their own moderators per community – although even these can fall into disarray at times.
Con: Lack of rules and regulations regarding metaverse activities
Like governments around the world still struggle with enacting laws surrounding technology in areas such as antitrust, competition, blockchain, taxation, and more – there will be these same types of issues that arise in the trial and error periods of the early metaverse.
While there are plenty of issues on the table already that will affect the metaverse, there will be flow-on effects from new technologies, systems, data, and more to think about – and regulators will likely struggle to keep up.
Con: Talent acquisition in the industry
With the tech market downturn and in crypto/blockchain, in particular, companies are shutting down hiring and plotting their next moves. The crypto winter may be having an effect on many metaverse projects.
This is not to say that development has stopped completely; it simply slowed from the staggering heights when the metaverse hype went crazy. Expect recovery when the general market recovers.
Con: A current lack of connection between disperse systems
One of the greatest issues currently facing the metaverse is the lack of connections between applications. Blockchains and their subsequent cryptocurrencies exist (mainly) standalone, with the need to use exchanges between them. NFTs are (mainly) available in digital galleries, and unlike those rare Pokémon cards you might trade in, they are only used as collectibles.
For metaverse applications to become successful, they need open, accessible systems and APIs to help build and connect different applications. Companies like Facebook and Apple will need to play ball instead of locking down their own ‘metaverses’, which is yet to be seen.
