Space — The Commerce Metaverse

Ask ten people what a metaverse is and you most likely get ten different answers. And that is the beauty of it.

We are witnessing the genesis of something so big, that it may have the power to change the way humanity thinks of reality.

If those venturing to create metaverses succeed, and there is every reason to believe they will, metaverses will redefine what we understand as reality.

Challenges

It is safe to say that for any new technology, the most important thing to achieve is mass adoption.

Metaverses share this challenge, but also one more: How to attract users to adopt the technology but also stay inside this alternate, digital reality for long periods of time on a daily basis?

Even further, how can metaverses convince people of vacating their physical realities and move into a digital world for vast amounts of time?

Even In The Metaverse, We Are Still Humans

So far metaverses have cashed on specific niches to get people’s attention.

Music lovers for example, may choose to attend virtual concerts in metaverses fully dedicated to this purpose. Gamers on the other hand will gravitate towards play-to-earn metaverses where they can finally play games without someone shouting at them for doing “nothing with their lives”.

While this is a great strategy short-term, it isn’t conducive to long lasting relationships, community building and human growth.

At the end of the day we are humans and the metaverse experience should enhance the experience of being a human, rather than taking away from it.

Following this line of thought, a truly successful metaverse should cater to the social, economical and individual aspects that make us humans.

The Social Aspect

Humans are social creatures. We build our personalities based on the emotional responses we get from others and make decisions based on their approval, or the lack of it.

Therefore, a truly successful metaverse will have to enable and incentivize social interactions. This goes well beyond simplistic approaches as “having to say “hi” to 10 people to earn coins.

It is about building structures and dynamics within the metaverse so information can be requested, help can be asked, services can be exchanged, and friends can be made.

The Economic Aspect

Human beings are economic in nature. Everything we do from the moment we are born is an act of exchange.

And once we hit adulthood, a good part of our daily life is dedicated to earning money. So not including essential activities such as meaningful work and wealth creation is neglecting one of the most important factors to engage and fulfill the members of any metaverse.

It can be argued that play-to-earn metaverses are resolving the economic issue, but only partially. It remains to be seen whether their business models are sustainable long-term.

Moreover, people playing games only for money, may not derive the sense of purpose and satisfaction that usually comes attached from doing something perceived as valuable.

So for a metaverse to truly win the large attention spans necessary to thrive, it needs to enable commerce to happen with total ease. That will create the conditions necessary to create working and business opportunities within the metaverse, to attract large numbers of people and give them reasons to stay.

The Individual Aspect

At last, there is an aspect that may seem contradictory to our social needs, but is essential to people: the sense of individuality.

Browsing the internet is enough to see the lengths where some people will go to feel different and unique.

This is where a metaverse that excels in facilitating the creation of alter-egos, communities built around those preferences, and activities and events that cater the cravings to be different can truly excel.

If most of your winged-friends are all riding their flying unicorns to their favorite concert in a metaverse, why go elsewhere?

But identifying key elements of human interaction and motivations isn’t enough. The glue that binds everything together is.

Commerce, the Glue of Human Interaction

Nothing has driven human expansion like commerce has. It may be argued that commerce has been the ultimate reason why billions of people have left homes and families to uncharted territories throughout history.

Commerce has been the sole factor that coalesces any community, the common denominator of the individual, social and economic aspects of the human experience.

And while it is undeniable that commerce has caused untold pain to many cultures and people, it is equally undeniable that commerce has been the main driver of human expansion and development.

And what is the journey from a physical world into a metaverse, if not the ultimate expansion of the human imagination?

So a metaverse that has at its center commerce, is due to take forefront in the race to capture the attention of users around the world

Putting all Together — Space, The Commerce Metaverse -

Understanding people’s needs and wants is only the first step of many.

Recognizing the social, economic and individual needs of people is nothing but a great start.

But introducing and enabling commerce as the metaverse lubricant, the higher reason to enter, stay and participate on a daily basis, is what will create the first truly successful metaverse.

At the end of the day, going to a concert, buying art in a gallery, watching a movie premiere, publishing an open position inside a company or buying clothes are all social and commercial acts, and as such they drive a sense of belonging.

And that is precisely what the team at Space is doing.

Space is defining the nature of what a metaverse should be, by taking into account individual social and economic aspects, framed by a seamless integration of services that allow commerce to thrive within.

So probably the next time 10 people are asked what a Metaverse is, 9 out of them will answer “Space, the commerce metaverse”.

And this time, commerce won’t have a human price, but rather, it will have rewards to everyone who decides to get involved.