So, Facebook announces metaverse. A re-branding plus an evolution to social. Now what do you do about your Facebook Marketing? Feeling like it's hard to keep up with all the Facebook changes and evolutions once again? Here's how to look at Facebook's new metaverse...
Facebook. New name? Sort of ... Facebook's new metaverse:
Social media’s value may not peak in the way many analysts imagine. Facebook’s metaverse concept – and new parent company name Meta Platforms, Inc. – is opening up new possibilities for online interactions, based on the company’s advanced technology.
The metaverse, its creators hope, will become a digital analog of the real world. Users will be able to interact with each other in immersive, 3D dimensional environments and carry out many of the activities that they would in real life. It will be possible to:
- Purchase limited edition digital items
- Transact with other users using blockchain-based currencies
- Have immersive, multi-sensory experiences
The goal of the metaverse, according to Facebook founder and CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, is to bring creators, commerce and communities together to generate radically new digital experiences. These factors, he hopes, will bring these new digital worlds to life.
So, let's discuss it. Here's why Facebook's new metaverse suggests social media still has room to evolve...
History Of The Digital Universe
The metaverse concept is nothing new. In fact, the actual name was coined by author Neil Stephenson in his 1992 sci-fi novel Snow Crash.
At that time, the technology and community simply wasn’t there to make it happen. However, with Facebook’s influence on the social media space and how people now use computers, the reality he described looks to be coming closer to fruition.
Developers have already taken many stabs at creating a metaverse of sorts in the past. Second Life was a good example. Players would navigate a functional three-dimensional world and virtually carry out their lives as digital avatars.
Unfortunately, it lacked the benefits of critical technologies. Players couldn’t interact using secure immutable ledger technology. And when the game was released, NFTs didn’t exist. Further, most gamers didn’t have the graphical horsepower to push virtual reality sets, and the hardware, in general, wasn’t available.
Of course, all that’s all changed. Gamers and other users do have access to those technologies. And prices are coming down as their popularity rises. Today, they are affordable for most.
Digital Society Moving Forward
The concept of the metaverse is truly audacious. Its architects – including Zuckerberg – see it not just as something fun to do, but as a real competitor to conventional reality. They envision a world in which people leave behind the world of atoms and molecules to immerse themselves in digital experiences that offer them more than conventional reality ever could.
As they see it, Facebook metaverse could essentially replace society as we know it. People would no longer go to work in the conventional sense or conduct flesh-and-blood relationships. Instead, they’d interact with each other via a digital intermediary with computers feeding information to their sense organs.
For businesses, the opportunities are tremendous. Those that hire influencers will benefit from opportunities similar to those available on conventional social media platforms. At present, influencer marketing is popular for brands wishing to grow by targeting markets engaged with influencers well known among their followers on specific social networks.
Final Thoughts On Facebook's New Metaverse And The State Of Social Media
How society will view this shift remains to be seen. Most likely, it will happen gradually, without many people noticing. Eventually, the ecosystem will grow, at which point it will become too late to turn back.
Zuckerberg is keen to point out that the metaverse is unlikely to ever replicate the richness and subtlety of conventional reality. But, given advances in quantum technologies, it could happen.
