I was intrigued to see this early glimpse of the much heralded Metaverse. I also particularly enjoyed the discussion on the regulatory dilemmas facing digital social platforms in general. However, I have to admit to being slightly distracted from the excellent treatment of the issues by the juddering Thunderbirds style animation of the avatars, the less than solid desks and the total absence of any legs! Of course, it is early days, and these are all things that you would assume would be well and truly fixed by the time the Metaverse goes mainstream. However, it got me thinking about what sorts of activities will flourish in the Metaverse and those for which the Metaverse will prove as much of a distraction as a benefit.
As social media platforms are currently pushing their vision of the Metaverse, many assume that its early uses will be an evolution of social media. I'm not so sure. It may be that enhancing shared activities with social interaction enabled by the Metaverse will be what gains early traction after the novelty wears off. Much of that is already here, with people running and cycling in virtual worlds enhanced by digital socialising, or playing games by racing each other in virtual cars, playing each other at virtual tennis or combatting aliens together in virtual worlds, all whilst digitally socialising. It's easy to see these sorts of activities being enhanced further by being integrated into an over-arching Metaverse and the more personalised socialising that it can provide.
Whatever form it takes, it seems the Metaverse is coming and it will be intriguing to see how it takes off. Hopefully not on a Thunderbird rocket!
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