Chapter 3: Criticisms and Concerns
Of course, with every new change in the advent of technology, there are a lot of people who have some serious misgivings and questions about the Metaverse. Even though the idea of the metaverse and the technology that would make it possible are still in their infancy, the criticisms and concerns raised by people are not. And they will only get more pronounced with time. In order to make the metaverse simple, we need to analyze these as well.
One of the biggest concerns with the metaverse is user privacy. We see data get released from social media sites all the time, and Facebook has had two data breaches where the personal data of their customers was shared all over. With Meta running the show, a lot of people are raising questions about just how private their actions on the metaverse are, or if everything they leave there can be leaked.
With the metaverse, a lot of personal information is going to be placed online for all to see. You’ll even need webcams and sensors to analyze your face and your voice to create an online Avatar that looks and sounds like you as closely as possible.
Additionally, people will be using the metaverse to shop, attend work, read emails, and connect with friends. There’s a growing group of people who are asking: Who can see all that information? And exactly how secure is this metaverse going to be?
Screens are addicting, and billions of dollars are spent every single year to make sure that we stay on them as long as possible. They provide little drips of dopamine and other chemicals that ensure we keep scrolling, liking, and being liked, to an extent where it can be extremely hard to put the phone down. Whether you are young or old, we all have some degree of dependence on the internet, and that poses a problem for the metaverse.
Internet addiction is something that affects everyone’s mental health to some degree. You might be hooked on your work email, your Facebook feed, a video game, or stalking your ex every time they post a picture. However, with the way the internet is now you can always turn it off and get back to the real world.
The metaverse is something that you won’t just browse and scroll through, but also something that you can ‘live’ in. Your avatar will be able to move and interact with others, and it might be much harder to pull yourself away from the fantasy it provides. Especially if that fantasy is better than your reality.
After all, why would you try to go back to a life that isn’t as exciting as the world inside the real world?
Nearly everyone involved in the metaverse has made repeated claims and wants to stress that the Metaverse is not real. At the end of the day, it is a fictional world that attempts to connect to our real one, not go about replacing it.
Still, that’s potentially a line that people who are very addicted to screens and want to scope out an escape aren’t going to be able to see. The internet tends to have both a positive and negative effect on the mental health of the users, and the Metaverse could easily exacerbate the impact the internet has on our brains, as well as the disturbing rise of screen addiction.
The internet can be nasty, and aside from a few calmer niches you really can’t scroll past anything without seeing someone yelling at one another. Whether it’s political beliefs, social issues, differences of opinions, or celebrity drama, the internet has tons of new ways to make us feel like victims where the entire world is against us.
But while we’ve seen new ways to cyberbully, harass, and demean people on the internet, what we haven’t seen is an effective way to make the internet safe for everyone.
Moderators, website owners, and level headed people among us can do their best to ensure that those who cause the most trouble are kicked out or prevented from seriously harming someone, but that really amounts to a slap on the wrist at best.
Being personally attacked on the internet for a belief you hold can hurt, but at the end of the day you can remove the offending comments and walk away. However, in the Metaverse you might have dozens of avatars screaming at you and shaming you into leaving or changing your belief system. The world that you have in the metaverse suddenly won’t feel as safe as it once did, and that can be a real problem for people.
Since we don’t have safety measures in place for monitoring everything, preventing smaller issues from growing out of control, and also for punishing the people who are spitting hate effectively, this raises some concerns about how all people are going to feel safe and secure on the metaverse. Finally, while governments are welcome in the metaverse, they aren’t in charge. Instead Mark Zuckerberg and his team are.
If the mudslinging gets really bad, there’s not a lot of faith that a team of CEO’s can handle it for some people and they would rather have law enforcement or a government entity take on people who are actively being toxic and spreading hate.
Even though the Metaverse is in its infancy, this is still a very important topic to discuss because everyone should feel safe on the platform, and sometimes the internet is anything but safe.
The metaverse could be a massive springboard for social issues, but it could also lead to homogeneous groups creating worlds all their own, where they are free to express views that aren’t the safest for certain enthic groups, religions, or other types of people. Additionally, people also see the metaverse as a great way for social issues to be broadcast to the world.
Instead of taking to Twitter or another online media platform to connect, people who have the same opinions about various issues will be able to display it right on their profile.
Then meetups could happen directly inside the metaverse on designated worlds or areas, allowing people who want to raise awareness or protest the ability to ‘meet’ one another without the hassle of actually driving to meet one another. This could connect various worldwide organizations and groups all under one banner, and allow for them to do far more than they could alone.
While the metaverse will allow different groups to find themselves and connect to share mutual interests and bring about social change, the type of people who might find themselves inside the metaverse could have a further issue awaiting them, the issue of wealth.
How Much Will The Metaverse Cost?
With a VR headset running anywhere between $300-$400 dollars, the bar to get into VR can be a little high for some families, and the metaverse could be even more expensive. Even though Meta has stated that they want to sell the electronics at cost and ensure that the metaverse remains a valid option for everyone to get into, some people just might not have the money needed to make and maintain their connection to the Metaverse. If only the very wealthy can get into the metaverse, then what will that allow everyone else to do?
Especially if the metaverse is owned and run by companies and billionaires that are seeking to make a profit off of what everyone is purchasing.
This could be a very large use of money for most people, and for those who can’t afford to get into the metaverse, it would be a large opportunity that they end up missing until they can afford the extra cost.