The Metaverse Needs Some Attention, Guys…
Like seriously
Virtual reality became a little less “real” after a four-foot bubble was placed around people’s avatars. The move came in response to … drum roll … boys behaving badly.
But it’s no laughing matter, as one of the women assaulted by male avatars said she’s suffered from anxiety since the episode.
Another report of groping came back in December, and Meta (Facebook) has now placed a new protective bubble around avatars in their new Horizon Worlds.
Here’s that new bubble
To any dudes smirking, check it out…
The metaverse looks as cool to a guy as it does to a girl. She just wants to be explore new worlds and meet new people and challenge herself in ways not possible in the physical world.
Maybe a girl wants to go snowboarding down a virtual mountain. So she works to save enough money to buy the expensive equipment.
The day of her adventure arrives and what happens? A bunch of horny guys swoop down and assault her in realistic ways. Her dreams of snowboarding are smashed like virtual ice.
As we pioneer these new lands, we should remember real humans are behind the avatars, with real hearts and minds.
A quick check of the Metaverse website shows another issue…
Aside from rampant gropings, it sounds there are kids are running amok in the digital wonderland causing havoc.
One user said she met a nine-year-old who is able to cloak his voice to sound like an adult, and asked her if he sounded believable.
Here’s the top-rated comment for Meta’s Horizon Worlds
The whole situation is a bit striking, as Facebook supposedly doesn’t let users under the age of 13 on their social media site. Yet, here we have a virtual world where nine-year-olds can run wild using adult voices?
The old Hollywood cliché, “I’ve got a bad feeling about this,” doesn’t even come close…
A Prediction
These are the “Wild West” days of the metaverse (by the way, undercase “metaverse” means all the virtual worlds collectively, which include Meta’s worlds).
We’re seeing the same pattern play out like the Wild West days in America.
There will be lawlessness, chaos and even villains pretending to be sheriffs. And if Meta doesn’t clean things up, then the government will inevitably have to swoop down and take care of the situation, which is the last thing everyone wants.
And bubbles aren’t enough… The only way to fix the situation with kids and people committing crimes is — sadly — to identify them in the virtual world.
Currently, people seem to be doing whatever the hell they want. But in time, people will be branded — identified.
Of course there will be better verses that remain anonymous, but for one is high profile as Meta’s worlds, proof of ID is coming.
Is It Real or the Metaverse? What’s the difference?
Virtual worlds will become nearly indistinguishable from the real world in life and business. Don’t believe me?
Many scoffed 25 years ago when I left my brick-and-mortar job to start a website company. Some even asked what I’d put in my “resume gap.” Sigh.
Later, those same people came to me for help transitioning into the very world they saw as a joke.
While these virtual worlds seem silly today, real business like Nike are already shoveling real money into them, and real people are using them.
One day, you may go to a concert and be dancing next to your friend who happens to be 1000 miles away, in front of a band who last performed in another century.
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https://medium.com/the-mood/the-real-reason-facebook-just-changed-its-name-to-meta-8fe5721c6d5a
https://medium.com/the-mood/the-real-reason-facebook-just-changed-its-name-to-meta-8fe5721c6d5a