What is the Metaverse?
The Metaverse is arguably the biggest shift in content creation and the way we interact with the web and amongst ourselves. However, the concept is not new. It was first introduced in Neal Stephenson’s Sci-Fi book titled “Snow Crash” in 1992. The action takes place in an Anarcho-Capitalistic future where corporations have taken over and central governments are powerless. Click here if you want to find out more about the original Snow Crash metaverse.
The Metaverse cannot be centralised
This brings into question the idea of control and centralisation. The Snow Crash Metaverse is a depiction of the power corporations have once they have expanded beyond the means of control for corporations and what that entails for the end-user.
As such, the Snow Crash Metaverse is centralised and fully controlled: the metaverse land is owned by 1 company.
The issue of centralisation becomes particularly prevalent, when you consider the fact that, for example Amazon already owns 50% of all cloud computing services, while Google owns 92.47% of all search traffic.
At best, this brings lack of choice and a healthy and competitive market. At worst, it goes against the ideas shared by Tim Berners Lee as to what the Web3 (also known as the Semantic Web) should be about.
Web2, also known as the interactive web, brought with it the control and monetisation of the web from major companies. This issue is well acknowledged, hence the reason Web3 needs to be a fairer version of the web.
In the light of Facebook’s mission to build the Metaverse, I decided to review the Mark Zuckerberg’s keynote presentation on the Metaverse. It’s a longer video than usual, so make sure to get yourself a cup of coffee or tea and make yourself comfortable. The ending is especially important to understand the overall idea, so if you do get bored at any point, do check the last few minutes as I bring the idea vision together.