Mark Zuckerberg has announced Facebook will be known as a 'Metaverse Company'
In late June, the CEO of Facebook Mark Zuckerberg announced to his employees the overall future direction the company would be taking. Facebook is working on building an all-out, interconnected virtual universe like something you'd see out of the movie Ready Player One, also known as the 'Metaverse'.
The section of Facebook that is primarily focused on creating products for creators, e-commerce, communities, and most importantly virtual reality, will be start to ramp up work to see this mission through. Zuckerberg says, "What is the most interesting part of this is how themes will combine to create a bigger idea... Our overall goal spanning these initiatives is to aid to bring the metaverse into existence".
The term 'metaverse' was first used in Neal Stephenson's 1992 sci-fi book titled Snow Crash, referring to the merging of the physical, augmented, and virtual reality space all shared online. Facebook isn't the first company to work on a metaverse, games like Fortnite, Roblox, and Minecraft all have created this idea. Though Zuckerberg is the first to have the platform to make it at a scale the likes of which we've never experienced.
Zuckerberg stated the metaverse would provide a wealth of opportunity to individuals including artists and creators. Individuals who strive to work while owning a house way out in the sticks or to people who have large limitations for education or recreation. A full metaverse could be the equivalent of a teleportation portal, according to Zuckerberg. This is the goal.
When thinking of a metaverse, other folks with enough wealth and knowledge will definitely want to make something similar but Mark Zuckerberg thinks, "Each company should not have it's own metaverse". At first glance, a statement like this coming from Mark Zuckerberg might sound like a monopolistic mindset. You may think, given Zuckerberg's past, he would want to make it to have full control of an entire online universe but he is right in a way. It's somewhat like the console wars, you have to buy a PS5 to play the latest God Of War title, or an Xbox console to play the upcoming Halo Infinite. Imagine if Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo were to come together and bring the greatest aspects of all their products into one complete package? The metaverse could be a truly amazing experience is it were to bring everyone together.
Mark Zuckerberg wants nobody to own the metaverse, but this can only be accomplished if the project were to be entirely
open source. This would allow everyone in the world to view exactly how it's created and how to improve it.
Though we all have our own reservations regarding Facebook, whether it be political or about their business ethics, the idea of being in a metaverse could be exciting if built with integrity and community in mind. Just like any new concept there's always room for bad actors to exploit it, we just have to make sure the population as a whole will work together for the betterment of it. If done right, a metaverse could open of unpredictable possibilities for the human race as a whole.
What are your thoughts? Are you excited about a metaverse prospect, and do you think Facebook with Mark Zuckerberg could make it happen in a good way?
Comment below!