Remember the 2009 movie WALL-E, which showed a bleak future where humans are unable to move, simply living on the experience that machines churned out for them? Why does that seem to be the future we’re moving towards? A few weeks ago, Facebook announced its latest step into the tech experience, rebranding themselves as Meta, a collection of all their social platforms under one umbrella. A veritable wonderland, the way it’s advertised as. For now the technology is advertised as usable on the Quest 2, Facebook’s Virtual Reality equipment. And here is where it gets interesting.

THE QUEST 2’S BIGGEST ISSUE

The Quest 2 requires the client to make a Facebook account to utilize the gadget. This implies that clients' protection probably won't be that protected any longer. On account of one client bothering another, Facebook mediators may begin checking the circumstances of that particular situation. This includes your discourse, movements, alongside any action on the gadget being recorded without you knowing it. Facebook is additionally battling against burner accounts (accounts used to post namelessly) by permitting access just to profiles with genuine names. While Facebook is as yet sorting out some way to ingrain these approaches without demolishing the client experience, one can hardly comprehend what kind of limitations we may look later on. While Facebook might call this important to give a problem-free environment, its an invasion of privacy nonetheless.

THE METAVERSE – DO WE NEED IT?

The issue we see is the probable invasion of privacy, and the endless opportunities for Facebook to make ad revenue from the Metaverse. And Facebook has never been at the forefront of user privacy, despite their numerous claims and public statements. A simulation that requires premium access for ad-free entertainment, otherwise being barraged by constant ads. Recording of the conversations you hold online, the stuff you browse through, being recorded in the name of “security”, are things that happen already. The Metaverse doesn’t seem to be different. The recent reports from former Facebook employee Frances Haugen also revealed that Facebook constantly ignores employee concerns, barely manages hate speech, and instead focuses on marketing. Manipulated images and marketing which can only lead to psychological disorders among men and women is also prevalent on the app. Perhaps the increasing age in the average user is why Facebook is trying to penetrate a younger target market. VR has been one of the newer platforms for users to view entertainment on and Facebook has successfully placed itself as one of the VR headset providers, namely the Oculus 2. Maybe the Metaverse is the next step in a totalitarian universe, governed by ads.