The Mystical Metaverse

Anyone who owns a 5-inch screen that has access to the internet (and let's face it’s the majority of us!) has heard about the metaverse. But what is this 'Metaverse' that has been blowing up all over the internet? Let's break this down, a one-line explanation of it would be that it is the coming together of the physical world and the digital world. Metaverse is like this virtual place where people, through their digital avatars, can do various things, from chilling with their 'amigos' to conducting office conferences. But it is not limited to such trivial tasks, people have big plans for Metaverse.

Did you know you could buy land in the metaverse? Mind=Blown right?

So many questions must be popping in your head- I mean who in their right mind would invest in fake land right? Who would even sell this land? Well, the right to sell plots of virtual land in the metaverse is reserved for the developers of the said metaverse. One can also buy the land from OpenSeas Marketplace as the land is nothing but an NFT(Non-Fungible Token).

According to Tim Sweeny ,if you were a car manufacturer in the metaverse, then you wouldn’t use it for digital advertising, but actual customers would be able to drive and get a feel of the car digitally! Gucci has started selling virtual sneakers! It seems like Metaverse would be the next big industrial revolution where people are shifting from the physical world to the digital one (as if WhatsApp and Snapchat didn't do an excellent job already ahahaha).

Most tech typhoons believe that we already have the technology for metaverse but it would take years if not decades for it to be available for the greater masses. But like after every Sunday comes the most dreadful day-Monday, in the same way metaverse does pose harm and might even lead to utter chaos in the society.

Let’s talk about the privacy issues for a second. Facebook has had a very rocky relationship with data. It has been involved in numerous data leak scandals including the one revolving around the British Consulting firm Cambridge Analytica. But the thing is, in all of this our digital data was being stolen like a few photographs, but in the metaverse we ourselves become digital. Imagine if someone were to hack you then they would know every aspect of your life-where you go, who you meet, the entire concept of privacy would come crashing down. Giving access to such sensitive information to a company like Meta with such a colorful past seems like a bet where the odds are stacked against us.

One of the other big red flags is the moderation. Meta has warehouses filled with people who are constantly scanning for the absolute worst things that people are posting- hate speech or terrorism or exploitation- and trying to prevent as much of it is possible from spreading. Now take a second and just think how moderation would be done in the metaverse- through a massive invasion of privacy! One would have to keep a constant check on what that avatar’s tattoo says or what is that person buying for his house! And the thing is that they have to monitor if they don’t want utter chaos but if they do implement this ……there will be UTTER CHAOS! Crazy paradox huh?

Metaverse is a futuristic dream, but one that many believe will come true. We have always dreamed of the future with crazy fast cars and soaring sky rises, but the reality is if the metaverse takes over then we won’t ever need any of those things. All we would need is a good Internet connection and a seat!