On October 26, 2021 Facebook made a major announcement . No, not major, colossal! Facebook Founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg presented the details of the unprecedented change at the company’s annual Connect conference. On the heels of the recent Whistleblower controversy in which an anonymous former employee alleged that Facebook was knowingly using personal information from its followers to advance the company’s own interests first instead of the public’s interests. In an interview with 60 Minutes, “Sean” the anonymous alias name revealed that they had documents to prove how Facebook regards “profit over safety.”
Why did Sean mention profit over safety”?
Is Facebook unsafe? If so, how?
Do its users feel unsafe?
What do you think? (We will address safety later on)…..
Okay, to me this is not a tremendous news flash, because we all know how “algorithms” work on any social media website. Instagram uses likes and hearts to drive numbers, Twitter users use “tweets and retweets” to get their messages in motion and of course, Facebook, now Meta uses “likes” and “shares” to gain/keep their followers and subscribers.
According the book entitled, “Social Engineering, the Science of Human Hacking” by Christopher Hadnagy, “the goal of the social engineer is to get you to make a decision without thinking” therefore, this is leading me to believe that the whistleblower’s accounts were not the sole catalyst that led to the rebranding and transitory move from Facebook to Meta.
This shift has been in the works for several years and yes, we the people of the public are just getting the “memo.” What about the split from Apple? Was it for autonomy?
Believe it or not, approximately 30 years ago, science fiction author Neal Stephenson envisioned the Metaverse in his novel entitled, “Snow Crash.”
What does the word Meta mean anyway?
The word “meta” comes from the Greek word ‘beyond’ because there is always more to build. Other definition descriptors include: “after, behind, among, changed, altered, higher & between.” In his October 28th Founder’s Letter, Zuckerberg described Meta (FKA Facebook) as a “social technology company….that will be more immersive.”
Users will become embodied, experience a feeling of presence present with another person, which will be the “ultimate dream of social technology.” Meta will encompass social experiences with future technology. This will include holograms, AI; (Virtual Reality) VR, & Augmented Reality (AR) that Meta will operate on consequently becoming the successor to the internet. So far the gaming industry operates on Web 3.0 technology has over 6 billion users is being led by Tencen, a gaming and media conglomerate. Web 3.0 uses semantic web, AI, 3d graphics and ubiquity.
So Meta (AKA FB) is technically not new to the Metaverse.
Still a genius move right?
How will Meta happen?
Unity and Unreal, the two largest real time development 3D/2D VR platforms are considered to be the Android and Apple IOS of the Meta world and are billion dollar companies. Zuckerberg is having Meta built using the Unity technology. Meta will consist of several companies and apps to enhance the social experiences of the user. Don’t forget your oculus glasses and headsets!
Get ready for this price tag: the FB Metaverse is going to be huge: billions of dollars are already being spent on investments and VR startups; 10 billion to be exact. Web 3.0 data will be connected in a decentralized way, allowing its users to interact with data using a VR device (think 3D glasses, but better: Oculus) with machine learning technology. Think of Siri but for everything that you do in terms of daily living and more. Web 3.0 is completely machine based, interactive and three dimensional.
Zuckerberg described the Metaverse as a well-lit virtual world, similar to our current world but cleaner, better and sophisticated. In the Metaverse you will be able to hang with friends and family, attend virtual concerts, go shopping for virtual products, go to the casino, play virtual games and more. You will have the ability to create a customized avatar that will represent you, buy name brand and designer labels to dress up in just like real life.
Need a place to stay? Decentralized property will be available for purchase as well. You can pay in NFT or Non Fungible Tokens. See the link for more information from the Metaverse Property, the first virtual real estate company in the world. https://metaverse.properties/rent-in-decentraland/
Back to Meta: Over 1 billion people are expected to join Meta in the next decade where the anticipated plan is to have users feel a “sense of presence” in juxtaposition to being socially distant and far away from loved ones. Users can connect in the Metaverse safely and in the comfort of their own home. So, perhaps this is the safety piece that Zuckerberg wanted to address?
Just think about it, inside of the ‘Metaverse” where many gamers are already positioned, the existential threats of misinformation, hate speech, data privacy issues & body dysmorphia that many teens and young adults have been experiencing in real life will not exist, only your customized avatar; which you can create to look anyway that you wish.
When will Meta (FKA Facebook) happen?
The technology for it is here! The Demand is here. The software is here: Unity and Unreal platforms are billion dollar companies positioned in the Metaverse/web 3.0. And the hardware is here. Zuckerberg’s plans for the Metaverse will matriculate over the next decade and will likely be the successor to replace the internet as we now know it. Besides, the Internet is almost 30 years old, it’s out dated anyways!
The Web 3.0 (AR/VR) technology will take over the current Internet prototype, which is based on Web 2.0. Zuckerberg has amassed a team of over 10,000 people who will be working on the development of augmented (AR) and virtual reality (VR) projects and plans to hire 10,000 more employees in Europe.
Let’s face it, as we journey into the 4th industrial revolution with the Internet of Things, Internet of Bodies, AI, VR, this Metaverse concept fits perfectly. It makes perfect sense to transition from the old paradigm platform Facebook has been sitting in and on for the past two decades. Meta will be the parent company to apps Instagram, WhatsApp, Messenger, Oculus and the AR and VR reality labs.
In the words of author Neil Stephenson, “all information looks like noise until you break the code”……
So perhaps the whistleblowers documents were the harbinger for the launch into Meta world.
Grab your glasses & See you there!
~4DGirl3DWorld
Pam
I plan to grab my Samsung VR glasses from Amazon- check these out:
Headsets:
Here is a link to Mark Zuckerberg’s 10/2021 Founder’s Letter:
~4DGirl3DWorld
Pam
Top photo credit:
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