Like what you've read?

On Line Opinion is the only Australian site where you get all sides of the story. We don't
charge, but we need your support. Here�s how you can help.

  • Advertise

    We have a monthly audience of 70,000 and advertising packages from $200 a month.

  • Volunteer

    We always need commissioning editors and sub-editors.

  • Contribute

    Got something to say? Submit an essay.


 The National Forum   Donate   Your Account   On Line Opinion   Forum   Blogs   Polling   About   
On Line Opinion logo ON LINE OPINION - Australia's e-journal of social and political debate

Subscribe!
Subscribe





On Line Opinion is a not-for-profit publication and relies on the generosity of its sponsors, editors and contributors. If you would like to help, contact us.
___________

Syndicate
RSS/XML


RSS 2.0

Metaverse: a danger to children and probably you too

By Mal Fletcher - posted Thursday, 28 April 2022


Studies on the long-term effects of frequent pornography use reveal that it often morphs into ever more risky forms of behaviour. These can include extra-marital affairs, seducing of work colleagues, making indecent phone calls, or something even more serious such as assault.

Users often report developing problems with intimacy. They feel they can't enjoy sexual experiences because they're addicted to the unreal, often infantilised versions of human interaction.

For most people, the first engagement with the multiverse will be innocent enough. It will feature what I call "sociable media", the next iteration of social media.

Advertisement

This is where people use VR devices to place their 3D online avatars in virtual spaces, for meetings with avatars of friends or colleagues. The experience will be immersive, in a way the current internet is not - except, perhaps, among the gaming community.

Because the metaverse is so immersive, it will multiply the impact of the internet, perhaps exponentially, in both positive and negative ways.

On the benefits side of the ledger, this virtual multiverse will create new opportunities for mass collaboration, innovation and much more realistic levels of social connectivity online.

Already, major companies in sectors such as retail and entertainment see the positive potential here. They're spending heavily to establish a presence in this network of online worlds. Today, the market size of the metaverse globally sits at around $47.69 billion. By 2028, that's expected to explode to $800 billion.

On the flip side, though, heavy engagement with the metaverse may increase our already significant problems with "absent presence" and "constant (or continuous) partial attention". Both are making it harder for people to focus in an age of almost constant online distraction.

Related to this is the challenge of "shallow think". Studies show that, because of our constant multi-tasking online, we tend increasingly to think broad and shallow, rather than narrow and deep. We know a little about a lot rather than a lot about a little. We don't specialise as much as we once did, yet specialists are still highly valued in every sector of society.

Advertisement

The metaverse may negatively impact already fraught social interactions, too. Facebook's (at times unethical) internal research has shown that social media messages attract more eyeballs when they appear to provoke anger rather than empathy. People often prefer "hot" responses, to more calm & measured ones. Imagine how much greater that problem might be when we super-charge our internet engagement via the metaverse.

This all-encompassing virtual cosmos will also magnify our problems with data generation and privacy invasion.

It's difficult to assign definite figures to such things, but some estimates have the value of the global data economy at around $3 trillion. In 2017, the European Commission estimated that by 2020 personal data would be worth eight per cent of the EU's total GDP. Yet we, the sources of the data, derive very little by way of direct benefits from its use.

  1. Pages:
  2. 1
  3. Page 2
  4. 3
  5. 4
  6. All

This article was first published by 2030Plus.



Discuss in our Forums

See what other readers are saying about this article!

Click here to read & post comments.

4 posts so far.

Share this:
reddit this reddit thisbookmark with del.icio.us Del.icio.usdigg thisseed newsvineSeed NewsvineStumbleUpon StumbleUponsubmit to propellerkwoff it

About the Author

Mal Fletcher is a media social futurist and commentator, keynote speaker, author, business leadership consultant and broadcaster currently based in London. He holds joint Australian and British citizenship.

Other articles by this Author

All articles by Mal Fletcher

Creative Commons LicenseThis work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.

Article Tools
Comment 4 comments
Print Printable version
Subscribe Subscribe
Email Email a friend
Advertisement

About Us Search Discuss Feedback Legals Privacy