Last fall Mark Zuckerberg released a video on the Metaverse with the primary vision to maintain Facebook’s mission, a mission as he quoted, “still about bringing people together.” Where is his credibility in that? The marketing video for the Metaverse was published shortly after Frances Haugen, a former Facebook employee, went on 60 Minutes to expose Facebook’s failure to address dangerous and criminal activity across their platforms, activities that promoted hate speech and division. 

Shall we say horrible timing or genius timing? Was the goal to distract people from the daring information the whistleblower recently shared with the world? If that was the case, let’s look at what the metaverse world will bring us. 

Zuckerberg says the most significant experience the Metaverse will bring is to connect with people in a universe where you merely put on a headset and teleport to a world with augmented reality(AR). In a world where your surroundings appear to be realistic but are computer-generated instead. This will be done without us needing to leave our house, a very simplified definition for what it will represent. Presently, we are already at a concerning point in society where we are highly connected to our phones and computers 24 hours a day. Not to mention the algorithms set by all these social media platforms, which analyze and track our data. 

If this project takes off, it could potentially harm future generations with an increased risk of depression. It’s not a secret that social media already has this effect on society, where people transform themselves and compare themselves to conform to social status and other modern ideals. 

Just like in the virtual multimedia platform such as; Second Life, the Metaverse will give the opportunity or illusion of a perfect world for users, in a similar way but with more advanced technology. Except that the meta world project is not being marketed as a second life, rather, it is sold to take over your life, this time you will be inside of the computer, feeling the things that you can see in this augmented reality, you will be able to carry your life, virtually, with job meetings and, even a virtual workplace. 

Metaverse will also offer a realistic experience of places you always dreamt of visiting, or you can create your own, and you can even modify how you look. It is your world to assemble and to keep you safe, as Zuckerberg pitched, you will be in control of who you allow into your meta world. I can only see how this will promote negative selectivity, lack of social skills, and lack of interaction skills in general. It could also potentially lead to less productivity in the younger generation. 

If you have a world where you can put a pair of glasses on and have everything you ever imagined, what will happen when you take them off? A shock of reality, you will no longer have all the luxury the Metaverse can provide, this will keep them going back to this AR world. This alternate reality experience will be the new drug we will have to look out for.

There is already a concern for cell phone addiction, and studies have linked the chronic use of cell phones to a GABA (gabapentin) disruption in our brains, an inhibitory neurotransmitter, that can produce a calming or euphoric effect. Similarly, it can control fear and anxiety. Addiction can lead to multiple other mental disorders and pave the way to suicide. If we lose touch with reality and the human aspects it brings, we will already be making our way to that path. 

The truth is: we are already living in a world where we are constantly connected to our phones, and while there are some advantages to this, as with all technology, purposely choosing to engage in a Metaverse universe will only set people back.  

Not to mention Meta’s lack of integrity across all its platforms, with no credibility whatsoever in maintaining our data privacy. For the headsets to mimic our interests and experiences, who’s to say that our every action will not be monitored the moment you put on those headsets? 

The Metaverse will replace your eyes and ghastly, your brain.