What Is Metaverse? 

Good question. In the simplest form, the Metaverse is what the entire society we live in could be in a couple years time: totally digital. In an even simpler take, the Metaverse is a network of virtual realms.

If you’ve seen movies like The Matrix or Ready Player One, you’d have an idea on what we’re trying to build here — an entire new world where the impossible can become possible all thanks to the innovative power of technology. Where people can become anyone they desire, the likes of which they can’t even show in real life. Where they can create, purchase and, most importantly, connect with so many more people thanks to lesser limitations than when faced with the real life construct of human society. That’s what bestselling sci-fi author Neal Stephenson was imagining when he coined the very term for his 1992 novel Snow Crash during the dawn of the internet.

That's also what Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg most likely thought of, especially since, according to David Needle of TechTarget.com, the very term became a mainstream topic only when Zuckerberg revamped his entire company from Facebook, Inc. to Meta Platforms, Inc. back in late 2021. 

But in a seemingly utopian-sounding world, problems will inevitably be on the horizon. If we’re still long from perfecting the very technology that are seen to be the foundation of VR (i.e. computers, laptops, smart phones, headsets) then how can we expect to suddenly make the full jump to it nor expect everyone to suddenly afford the price tags associated with these kinds of gadgets all within just a few years? These issues are where the trouble lies and why Metaverse is essentially failing its supposed domination over the other “traditional” social media platforms currently present.

Photo by Dima Solomin

The Metaverse Cons 

1. Its VR Headsets 

Let’s start with the most obvious ongoing challenge of Metaverse — the headsets which will bring you to its virtual environment. Unlike the usual gaming setups which involve the console and controllers, headsets are still seen as mere add-ons for a more, well, “realistic” experience. But, as mentioned, they’re still just a fun addition and far from being something that becomes a preference for all. 

The main problem of these VR headsets is the fact that not everyone can handle wearing them for prolonged periods of time without feeling nauseous afterwards. According to a 2019 study, cybersickness is “a constellation of symptoms of discomfort and malaise produced by VR exposure” and is essentially a type of motion sickness — something which has no permanent cure but just has some ways, typically medicine, to prevent it. 

What triggers this is that, even if headsets provide you with a first person point of view in the virtual environment, your body remains in a fixed position with minimal walking movements despite seemingly “moving” as usual as per your vision. This creates a disconnect between your body and brain which then sends mixed signals that leads you to feeling motion sick. Now, unless a miracle cure for cybersickness is created in the near future plus a less chunky and heavy headset design that won’t have us all looking like robotic humanoids then this will continue to be a primary posing threat as to why Metaverse just won’t be a hit to netizens worldwide. 

No one wants to invest in pricey equipment that can have a 50/50 chance of making us feel physically bad within just a few minutes (and even a 100% chance if one has a history with motion sickness). Oh and speaking of the price, the fact that they just raised headset prices too in this economy? As Jason Aten eloquently put it “if you wanted people to get on board with the metaverse, you'd want as many people as possible to be buying your VR headsets . . . On the other hand, if you raise the price of something by 25 to 33 percent, fewer people are going to buy it.”

2. Its Broadness 

When the internet was developed, it started from a specific idea of simply wanting a digital space to easily store, access, and share information from one person to the next around the world. From there, it grew to how we utilize the web today. 

The problem with Metaverse is that its ideas remain too broad to the point where there really isn’t just a singular definition nor specified goal behind its desired development. It’s so broad that many even agree that it’s already been existing as far back as the ‘90s and through the likes of Roblox, Minecraft, Fortnite and Animal Crossing. Not to mention, that it is just essentially video games but with more use of VR headsets and the incorporation of NFTs, nothing groundbreaking.

Even Zuckerberg’s keynote speech about Metaverse had him explaining it as a place where one can “be able to do almost anything you can imagine” — which sounds like what the digital world is to begin with — plus he adds that “the best way to understand the metaverse is to experience it yourself, but it's a little tough because it doesn't fully exist yet” — making it seem like even he isn’t sure where this is all headed off to for the future. Jason Schreier of Bloomberg notes that maybe the lack of specificity in metaverse’s definition makes it open to all kinds of innovation to arise for its further development into something more concrete. Yet he also states that “there are a few potential visions that executives have laid out in various recent interviews and sermons, and none of them makes much sense.” 

Photo by lifesimply.rocks

1. Competition with TikTok  

When the pandemic hit, people found themselves locked up at home with nothing but the online world to turn to for comfort, connection, and entertainment. This was the very jackpot short form videos, specifically TikTok, needed to win over netizens and become one of the top most-used social media platforms around the world. Its super effectiveness is attributed to the simple fact that it catered to society’s shortening attention span as technology continues to speed up processes for us in our daily lives. Plus, all you need is a single gadget to access the free site and app to be entertained 24/7 by all kinds of topics supported there — no cybersickness attached. 

Meanwhile, Metaverse in all its innovative glory just isn’t hitting with the crowds for a variety of reasons, some of which we’ve already mentioned, but also because it unfortunately entered the competitive social media field around the same time as TikTok. Its more complex and buggy environment is no match for TikTok’s simpler interface which allows content creators of varying skill levels (and even the average Joe) to easily adapt any existing video editing knowledge to its now renowned short form requirement. This also allows them to freely create as they please based on what they experience daily in real life rather than completely plunging them into a copycat virtual alternative reality. And with the mention of “freely”, there’s that general take on us not wanting to participate in something that seems forced. As The Business Standard mentions, “the biggest elephant in the room is the present state of the [M]etaverse. It gives a sensation that Zuckerberg is forcefully pushing us into using it.” At the end of the day, it’s still about innovation through integration, something Metaverse is failing to do. To add insult to injury, most buying headsets under the Quest brand owned by Zuckerberg aren’t even using it for Metaverse but rather other games. 

Reels came along for Facebook and Instagram as competition and, although many have also enjoyed their TikTok-like qualities, there’s the problem already — it’s nothing but a “TikTok clone” as Forbes calls it. Given that Zuckerberg has still chosen to focus funds into Metaverse rather than improving Reels, which has more potential to become TikTok’s true competitor, goes to show that Reels still isn’t the lasting solution he envisions for his TikTok problem. But it’s growing clearer that Metaverse isn’t the answer either and with Meta’s stocks plundering by the minute, this VR idea that was once envisioned to be the next go-to digital platform is becoming more of a pipe dream. 

2. Zuckerberg’s Misstep 

No one’s perfect, not even self-made billionaires like Mark Zuckerberg. That said, as the CEO of one of the world’s top social media, there is an expectation for him to make decisions that have been extremely carefully thought of to avoid miscalculations and, worst of all, profit losses. Too much ambition can lead one to make mistakes — exactly why the best in the business often cultivate a “healthy ambition” where they know their and their teams’ limits in order to deduce just how far the company can go in terms of innovative ideas. Harvard Business Review describes it as “knowing how far to reach for any given aspiration [as] key to harnessing healthy ambition. . . . If the challenge is too great, you risk giving up or becoming discouraged when you fall short. If the challenge isn’t great enough, you risk becoming bored or never realizing the full potential of your efforts.”

Unfortunately, it seems like overambition did get the best of Meta’s CEO and his perilous journey towards a future fully bound in virtual reality has gone down the drain. Although, it’s vital to note that the primary reason as to why he decided to invest large amounts into building a greater Metaverse wasn’t an unreasonable one. Much like many other businesses, COVID-19 gave the silver lining of rapid adaptation into the digital world as most of us moved our lifestyles online when the world physically locked down for months on end. As Zuckerberg writes in his official message to his employees, “the surge of e-commerce led to outsized revenue growth. Many people predicted this would be a permanent acceleration that would continue even after the pandemic ended. I did too, so I made the decision to significantly increase our investments.” 

Yet, economic unpredictability also due to the pandemic resulted in this initial surge to go back down as inflation goes wild and consumer spending decreases causing Zuckerberg’s prediction to turn a complete 180 especially with the added challenge of TikTok and ad signal loss due to Apple’s newest privacy settings update (a.k.a. ATT app-tracking transparency feature) which restricts other companies like Meta from easily getting ad revenue via websites and apps. At this point, profit loss after profit loss has become a norm for the formerly called Facebook company.

Granted that the company’s primary focus on Metaverse happened during the pandemic, one would think they would have at least chosen to balance the focus on VR alongside Reels, for one, like a fallback in the likelihood the former doesn’t produce the desired results. But, as we’ve said earlier, it just seems that Reels isn’t the brainchild Meta wants to provide greater care for due to this unwavering hunger towards virtual reality — regardless of the fact that they’ve already lost billions.

3. Netizens’ Negative Reaction

With its pricey setup, glitchy atmosphere, and lack of a clearer perspective, Metaverse has become a laughing stock in the online and real life community due to its unimpressive VR design and overall dull concept. Meta has invested billions of US dollars in trying to bring to fruition this next generation VR world only for it to accumulate close to $10 billion in losses instead as development practically remains stagnant and investors have begun to lose faith in its concept. 

What made things worse was, due to it not being able to generate the amount of frenzy and profit initially predicted, an inevitable cost-cutting had to be done resulting in more than 11,000 Meta staff being laid off amidst a struggling post-pandemic economy. In his official message to his employees, Zuckerberg apologizes to those affected and adds that “we are also taking a number of additional steps to become a leaner and more efficient company by cutting discretionary spending and extending our hiring freeze through Q1 [of 2023].” This only adds more rage to the already existing troublesome layoffs the entire tech industry’s been facing with Twitter CEO Elon Musk firing close to 4,000 employees and Amazon planning on following in their footsteps with around 10,000 in mind. 

And you best believe the internet did not hesitate to further roast Metaverse and the people behind it for their impracticality in continuing to work on this ill-judged idea. In the likelihood of its continued pursuit, Meta will have to really step up their game in winning back both investors and consumers in the possibility of daily lifestyles being injected into VR.

Photo by stephan sorkin

Conclusion 

Just because VR is becoming, somewhat, more accessible and technology is rapidly developing doesn’t mean we’re about to enter a new phase where people would desire to live in a fully virtual reality. It’s cool to dream of concepts like it but one mustn’t stray so far from the real world when it comes to actually pursuing these types of innovations because, chances are, you’ll end up wasting time and resources. 

There are still so many issues that companies are turning a blind eye from due to the capitalist mindset of profit over practicality. It would probably be better to find a way to integrate these technologies and concepts into pragmatic solutions that balance real life and digital or help us manage in the real world easier rather than obsoleting one over the other. 

Because it seems like society just isn’t into turning everything a la The Matrix. Real life experiences still hold greater power as that’s simply what being human is all about — living life to the fullest in the physical realm with social media simply allowing us to capture and share these moments online to everyone around the world.

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