The Metaverse Is A Permission For Everyone To Become Liars
And I’m not in for it.
Scammers have been going at it like rabbits in social media apps. Every comment section I go to, every content I stumble upon, everyone is telling me how to get rich quick, and it forced me to let go of the platforms because they are too good to be true.
In other words, liars for money.
And the sad part is that most of the users who constantly post online are sharing curated lives. I know it’s happening in real-time, but people are only posting the best part, and not the worst part (honestly, who would?).
So, are we lying to ourselves or to our viewers?
In the end, we are all just putting a mask in public.
Metaverse=Social Media Video Game in 3D
This virtual world that Metaverse is creating is basically social media in 3D. It’s a place where you can do whatever you want, go wherever you please with anyone without ever leaving the house.
No one can stop you (save Mark) unless you need to go to the bathroom or are hungry.
All you have to do is create an avatar who can represent you in the virtual world. And then, your virtual self can ‘travel’ anywhere anytime.
Just like a video game. Developers create realistic places for gamers to explore, have fun, and create avatars of their preferences.
I don’t mind if it’s for video game purposes. I think it’s a fun way to take entertainment to the next level.
However, I’m a little sceptical of them if they are trying to take over beyond entertainment.
Entrepreneur Preachers are everywhere online
No matter what my feed algorithm would be, I always come across preachers, rarely doers. You see people who ‘own’ porche, Ferraris, fancy houses, and wears, telling you to keep working hard and never think about the negative things.
As I said before, their words are right…to some extent.
Nearly everything online is toxic and curated a lot, making us believe that we are in a perfect utopia. If we are in the virtual world, perhaps it’s true. But we’re not, right? All we did was put a small tv right in front of our eyes and get lost in it.
Talking is easy, that’s why there are a lot of those people online. But actions? It’s not as simple as talking. And that’s why you see people and ‘influencers’ who sometimes don’t know what they’re talking about as they just copy-pasted their words from books or online.
The Metaverse is breeding new levels of toxic
On the internet, the common toxic things I see are: social media curated posts and online trolls.
Now, with the metaverse, I have a feeling that a new breed of toxic is coming.
And that involves the increase of liars.
Since social media will be integrated into the metaverse, this will give the freedom for users to create their own avatar however they want and indirectly identify that avatar to themselves. This means that we are creating an avatar that is not us but according to what we want. Not the reality.
Firstly, there is nothing wrong with doing this. However, the problem arises when we keep identifying ourselves as avatars and by continuing this, it has the chance of exposure to potentially disruptive behaviours.
Metaverse has the potential to harm mental health more than social media
If social media affects the mental health of users, imagine how the metaverse can affect us all.
If we think about it, it could be a true Ready Player One world. No one wants to solve problems anymore, denying reality, increase of entitlement because their avatars are “almighty” in the virtual world, and self-comparison will be a huge thing.
The most dangerous one could be the online gaming world. Sure, it’s harmless to play it, but people can fake their name and age and they can say the most horrendous things to anyone without having a second thought.
Let’s say Minecraft, a popular kids game that even adults play. Now, if these adults are playing them with kids, and the adults use languages or words that they are not supposed to use for kids, and they didn’t know that they are playing with kids, this can influence the kids a lot. The way they behave will change because of the exposure to the community.
All in all, this doesn’t harm your physical body, but it’s an attack on your mental health.
“Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether they could, they didn’t stop to think if they should.” — Jurassic Park
In Jurassic Park, Ian Malcolm questioned the scientists why in the world they are bringing back extinct animals. As much as it’s an attraction, how much will it cost to the modern world?
The same with the era we live in today.
I recently listened to a podcast of Joe Rogan where he was discussing the Metaverse with Ben Shapiro. There was a sentence that Ben said that was scary:
“We are innovating ourselves out of existence.”
As much as I hate this quote, I somehow felt that it’s true to some extent. Human has been innovating all the great stuff over the past centuries. But the modern ones seem to be a terrifying dystopian future that we’re heading towards.
Living in a lie.
Recently, there are developers developing real-estate businesses and selling them for crazy prices. But because it’s a virtual world where people can create infinite worlds, why there must be a rush or a scarcity?
Doesn’t it sound like a money grab to you?
The Market Is Sentimental, Prone to Lies, and We’re “Burning” The World
Jessica Wildfire wrote this article “They’re Getting The Crash They Deserve” and she summed up what’s going on now in a nutshell.
We’ve been living in a super bubble of fake hope and toxic positivity.
“You can be rich by investing in crypto and NFTs!! ” says nearly all influencers as the electricity bills spiked and the energy crisis is happening. Oh, and recently, the crypto market crashed.
“Invest in Tesla!!” says nearly all influencers as nearly all the tech stocks are crashing down the drain.
“I’m living the time of my life!” says some user on social media, earning likes and comments as the pandemic cases spike.
And now you’re telling me to enter the Metaverse where that same people are going to invade there too? Telling me the same lies while the world is at stake?
Not to mention, the things that are going viral or making hot tons of money are basically meme stuff and countless anomalies. Does this benefit anyone? Most probably the creators only.
Overall, the Metaverse is scary
At the moment, until there are more ethical ways to maintain the Metaverse, I’m not interested yet. Perhaps it must be regulated to show certain limits when it comes to making money or ‘living’ in the metaverse.
Social media hides the truth, and anonymous users can say whatever they want, even lies. Imagine what it could do to society.
It’s sad how honesty is less of a thing and people are pumping or jumping on a hype train for business bubbles.
