Facebook Wants Us to Live in the Metaverse

newyorker.com

3 points·Kaibeezy··3 comments

I remember reading Snowcrash (late 90s?) but even then I was stunned by how far ahead of its time it was. I had to double check the publish date. I've never had a Facebook account (largely for privacy reasons and also because I'm a bit of an introvert) but the metaverse may just push me into it. I really don't know. Mostly I'm concerned about privacy and consent. What does consent even mean inside the metaverse? Maybe now is the time to start building a meta-identity. And is this really the future or just one mans pipe dream, a fad for the next 30 years? Are children born today likely to spend most of their waking hours looking through VR goggles? Has the oculus generation been born?

Edit: typo

> Are children born today likely to spend most of their waking hours looking through VR goggles?

We estimate at least 150 million children engaged in child labour, an increase of 5% in 5 years. About 1 in 10 of all children worldwide.

About half the world’s population lacked safely managed sanitation services in 2020.

“One in five children globally does not have enough water to meet their everyday needs” – UNICEF

Facebook-subsidized VR should help with all of that, right?

[Note: Above comment is intended as mild sarcasm, not a literal question.]

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