Most people who do not live under a rock have heard about the name change of the company formerly known as “Facebook” to what CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced to be “Meta.” Zuckerberg announced in a Facebook status on Oct. 28 about the company’s name change and the future of social interaction for humans. In the status, a new term was used called the “Metaverse.” How profound. Zuckerberg summed it up, saying “In the metaverse, you’ll be able to do almost anything you can imagine—get together with friends and family, work, learn, play, shop, create.” Some might find this exciting, but I find it terrifying. It is like Zuckerberg forgot COVID-19 even happened. I do not know about Zuckerberg, but the countless Zoom meetings I had were no replacement for human interaction. However, in another sense, the technology Zuckerberg is describing is on another level above Zoom meetings. From his status, Zuckerberg describes “the Metaverse” as a replacement for our now social interactions. Zuckerberg said “Think about how many physical things you have today that could just be holograms in the future. Your TV, your perfect work setup with multiple monitors, your board games and more”. He also says “This isn’t about spending more time on screens; it’s about making the time we already spend better.” Again, I am terrified.

Using the Metaverse is putting full trust in the hands of someone else and trusting them with your work, social experiences, and many things that matter to you. You are also handing over our real reality for an artificial, fake one! From the sounds of it, this technology Zuckerberg describes, is very realistic and must be almost indistinguishable from our reality. I say this in that if this technology was not an accurate portrayal of our reality, then no one would support the Metaverse. If anything, it would be like a video game that people use for fun and not serious matters or everyday social interactions. If the Metaverse is very realistic, then we will see people replacing their work in our reality for work in the Metaverse. Again, this is all pretty new to everyone and seems to be a trendy topic. I myself admit to not understanding this technology fully or its limits. I also know that if many humans adopt the Metaverse as the primary method of social interaction, there will no longer be excuses to not talk to somebody as anyone is one click away! Compared to the Metaverse, Zoom is very primitive, and I cannot stop thinking about the long Zoom meetings I used to have. I also cannot fully explain what I felt when I was on those Zoom meetings. There was a hole in me, a human connection that I was missing. And there is something about human connection that cannot be replaced no matter how technologically advanced we are. Maybe it is the smells, gut feelings, or facial expressions of reality. Or maybe all of it. And I know, sitting in my chair, in my reality, I have a certain level of control over my life and what is happening. My fear is that one day we will fully give up this precious reality we have, and never get it back. Sitting here thinking about how terrible Zoom meetings and Zoom classes were, I value the reality I have at this moment. And Zuckerberg is threatening that. This, however, is based on the assumption that the Metaverse can replace our current reality. But why try something new when what I have now is the realest reality I can have. For now, I am grounded to my chair in the real world, and I hope you are too.

Photo from Flickr