I find it very disappointing that these articles never mention VRChat, the current largest VR social media platform and just use Facebook press material to guide their opinion on the metaverse. VRChat is leagues ahead of all the competition. It has an established ecosystem of players, communities, maps, games, content, and a whole network of modders finding and creating features users actually want.
Right now, I can meet my irl friend to go avatar shopping for a fun looking character with full body tracking (because full body feels 100x more immersive), head to a VR strip club to get drunk with strangers and watch people poledance using roomscale stripper pole setups, go play a boxing mini game against a person roleplaying in a Donald Duck avatar I met at the bar, then finish off the night of regret by watching YouTube videos in a virtual movie theater with 5 other people. You probably can't do that on whatever FB will push out.